MAN CITY U19 3, SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1
Manchester City U19 had to wait until injury time to confirm victory against a hard working Shakhtar Donetsk U19 side with goals by Phil Foden, Joel Latibeaudiere, and Taylor Richards.
Foden’s goal came after Joel Latibeaudiere’s opener late in the first half but although Shakhtar pulled one back quickly through their captain Volodymyr Yakimets they couldn’t push for an equaliser against their more accomplished hosts.
Taylor Richards made sure of the win in added time with a low drive past Vladyslav Vertiei to secure their second win in a row in the UEFA Youth League on a warm afternoon across the road from the Etihad Stadium.
Early movement from Brahim Diaz kept the visitors busy in the opening minutes and Benjamin Garre was adjudged to be offside in the 21st minute when he thought he had scored.
Valerii Bondar’s header from Yukhym Konoplia was well saved by Daniel Grimshaw while Ed Francis had a tame free kick easily saved by Vladyslav Vertiei after 32 minutes and Benjamin Garre and Phil Foden also tested the Shakhtar ‘keeper.
The breakthrough came 2 minutes before the break when Joel Latibeaudiere headed in a Brahim Diaz corner past Vertiei after 43 minutes.
Diaz had been finding space throughout the game and almost doubled the lead on the stroke of half time when his curling effort was tipped away by Vertiei.
City’s attacking trident was in fine fettle after the break and Benjamin Garre and Brahim Diaz were instrumental in Phil Foden’s 49th minute close range finish shortly after the restart.
Shakhtar were not for giving up, though, and quickly pulled one back through captain Volodymyr Yakimets under four minutes later.
Rabbi Matondo forced a great save out of Vertiei with a close range shot from wide on the right as City went for a third shortly after the hour mark.
Grimshaw was a spectator for much of the second half but did pull off a save from Andrii Kulakov while his opposite number Vertiei palmed over a rising drive by Tom Dele-Bashiru.
There was late drama as Dmytro Topalov’s cross was missed by everyone but City cleared the danger before Oleksii Kashchuk could get to the loose ball while Foden spurned a couple of late chances to make the win safe.
Shakhtar finally put a sustained threat on in the last minutes of the game but City comfortably contained the threat from their visitors and Taylor Richards underlined City’s good performance with an injury time goal.
Man City U19 v Shakhtar Donetsk U19 Match Facts
Man City U19: Grimshaw, E Garcia, Latibeaudiere, Francis, Davenport, Smith, Matondo (Richards 72), T Dele-Bashiru (Diallo 90), Diaz, Foden, Garre (Gonzalez 75)
Man City U18 Subs: Sokol, Wilson, Pozo, Diallo, Richards, Touaizi, Gonzalez
Shakhtar Donetsk U19: Vertiei, Konoplia, Muravskyi, Bondar, Komiienko, Chekh (Kryskiv 46), Kashchuk, Yakimets, Topalov, Kholod (Andrushenko 75), Kulakov (Kuzmenko)
Shakhtar Donetsk U19 Subs: Kuzmenko, Hurskyi, Mate, Shushko, Pavlish, Andrushchenko, Kryskiv
Goals: Joel Latibeaudiere 43, Phil Foden 49, Taylor Richards 90; Volodymyr Yakimets 53
Booking: Muravskyi 77