Pep’s face says it all as youths earn draw
CITY YTH CHELSEA YTH 1 1 THE cameras didn’t capture Pep Guardiola’s reaction for Chelsea’s opener, but his response to an earlier City chance said enough.
Lukas Nmecha had just missed his second in as many minutes in the FA Youth Cup final first leg at the CFA last night when the Blues boss was seen going spare through a boardroom window.
Passion will only take you so far, yet the Catalan’s enthusiasm for a game he was not directly involved in should encourage every youngster on the pitch.
And, thanks to Phil Foden’s fantastic equaliser, the boy Blues will head to Stamford Bridge next week with the score tied at 1-1 and every hope of finally besting the FA Youth Cup specialists.
This is the third time in as many years City have battled it out with Chelsea in the final.
In the last two years they have gone into the games as underdogs and eventually been overwhelmed by opponents that have looked stronger.
The reigning FA Youth Cup champions haven’t lost their build or competitive edge and indeed took advantage of slack City defending to take the lead just before half-time through Ike Ugbo.
That ought to have taken the wind out of City, who had gone at them from the start and went close through Nmecha twice - the second of those attempts earning Guardiola’s exasperation - and Foden. But this team has more weapons in the armoury than their predecessors.
As every team to have come across Lee Carsley’s men in the competition has found, if you’re going to try and put City away you had better land a killer blow.
With Jadon Sancho, Foden and Brahim Diaz all capable of decisive moments in a heartbeat, they are rarely out of games and so it proved after the break.
A short ball from Sancho found Foden in space and the Stockport midfielder drove into more of it before placing his shot past the keeper.
That didn’t derail Chelsea, who will still fancy their chances at home. City, though, deserve credit for fighting their way back into the game and certainly won’t be overawed going to West London.
“I thought they were by far the better team first-half but we grew into the game as it went on,” said Carsley.
“We should go into the second leg confident. Getting back into it has given the lads a great boost.”
With Guardiola sure to be watching, they will be playing for more than just silverware.