MAN CITY U23 4, TOTTENHAM U23 1
Manchester City U23s produced a display which underlined why they have been crowned Premier League 2, first division champions for the first time.
On the night when City lifted the title, they defeated nearest challengers Tottenham with ease to extend their unbeaten run in PL2 to 17 matches.
City extended their lead at the top over Spurs to 15 points with their last game of the season away to them on Friday.
Goals from Tommy Doyle and Ben Knight in the opening period set City on the road to victory which was sealed with efforts from Liam Delap and James McAtee in the second half as they remained unbeaten at home in PL2 all season.
Captain Doyle, 19, who has already made 11 first-team appearances, made the breakthrough in the 13th minute with an exquisite 28-yard free kick bent over the defensive wall and placed perfectly out of the reach of goalkeeper Kacper Kurylowicz.
City, with their possession-based play, kept knocking at the door which opened again in the 41st minute when Knight doubled their advantage.
A sweeping move from right to left ended with Knight, 18, signed three years ago from Ipswich Town for £1million, finding the net with a brilliantly executed angled finish high into the far corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Spurs rarely threatened apart from one chance that fell to Dilan Markanday which was deflected narrowly over with City having chances to have finished the half with a larger advantage than 2-0.
City created a series of chances to build on their lead at the start of the second period as Delap was denied by Kurylowicz while Cole Palmer and Knight both fired narrowly wide.
Home keeper James Trafford also made his first save of the match to thwart J’Neil Bennett.
City scored the third goal they deserved midway through the half after an incisive build up ended with Claudio Gomes crossing for Delap, 18, to convert with an easy tap-in for his 24th goal of the season.
Spurs showed why they are second in the league as they were determined to go down fighting as they reduced the deficit in the 66th minute through Brooklyn Lyons-Foster.
The defender had been denied moments earlier by a super save from Trafford but from the resulting corner Lyons-Foster headed home off the underside of the crossbar.
And Spurs might have scored a second late in the game when Trafford managed to keep out an effort from Kion Etete with a fine fingertip save.
But City’s class shone through again in stoppage time when McAtee, 18, added a fourth goal curling in a delightful shot from the right of the box for his first goal of 2021.
Salford lad McAtee, capped by England at youth level, has been at the club since the U11s.