Manchester City have been crowned FA Youth Cup champions after beating rivals Manchester United 2-1 in dramatic fashion. Reigan Heskey, son of former Premier League striker Emile, scored a stunning goal in the 87th minute to put blue ribbons on the trophy.
City had taken the lead in style, too, as Floyd Samba converted a free-kick from 25 yards in the first half. United hit back two minutes later through Godwill Kukonki, who drove forward from centre-back to finish off a brilliant move.
But Darren Fletcher’s youngsters were left heartbroken when Heskey, 18, found space on the left-hand side of the penalty area and chopped inside. The winger produced a thumping right-footed strike to ultimately win the game for Oliver Reiss’ side.
There were a host of recognisable faces in the stands of the 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium, which was controversially chosen as the venue for Thursday’s final after the Etihad Stadium was made unavailable due to ongoing construction work. First-team managers Pep Guardiola and Michael Carrick watched on as the stars of the future battled it out.
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Also in attendance were United players Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu among others. As for City, they had the backing of stars such as Phil Foden, Antoine Semenyo and Nathan Ake.
There were plenty of eyes on United wonderkid JJ Gabriel, who only managed to work City goalkeeper Max Hudson once and was later shown a yellow card for a dive inside the penalty area. City’s Teddie Lamb was looking to score his 29th goal of the season but the striker couldn’t beat Cameron Byrne-Hughes in the United goal thanks to a spectacular save.
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View 2 ImagesReigan Heskey scored the winning goal for Manchester City(Image: Alex Livesey – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Guardiola congratulated City in a statement, saying: “I want to congratulate Oliver Reiss, his staff, the players and everyone working in our academy on winning the FA Youth Cup. Success in this competition is another example of how good this club is at creating a winning mentality and producing top young players.
“Every season I am so impressed by the talent that we produce here at the CFA (City Football Academy) – I see it when the young players train with us. I hope everyone in the academy enjoys this achievement because it is a reward for all the hard work and commitment not just from this season, but years of hard work.”
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