The U18 Premier League season is drawing to a close with most teams in all three groups having just one or two games remaining. The one team that has more is favourites for the national title, Manchester City. Middlesbrough lead Group 2 in comfort and it is incredibly tight in Group 3.
GROUP 1
| GROUP 1 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Man City U18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 12 | ||
| 2 | Chelsea U18 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 3 | Everton U18 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 9 | ||
| 4 | Liverpool U18 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5 | Reading U18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Fulham U18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Blackburn U18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 | ||
| 8 | West Ham U18 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 3 | ||
City continue to be favourites for the national title. They now sit two points above Chelsea, and three above Everton, with a game-in-hand.
Fulham 2-3 Everton
A missed penalty from Nathan Broadhead didn’t matter for Everton as they got the win needed to keep them in the race for the national title, although Manchester City are clear favourites. Shayne Lavery scored twice and James Yates once at Motspur Park. Ryan Sessegnon and Stephen Humphrys both scored for the home side, now sixth and the lowest positioned of teams who have played five times.
Liverpool 0-2 Manchester City
City took a big step towards the national title with a comfortable victory against Liverpool. Manu Garcia scored their opener, curling it wonderfully in the first half. Lukas Nmecha, who has consistently been impressive this season, made it two in the second half. The Liverpool goalkeeper got a hand to his shot after Brahim Diaz played Nmecha through.
Manchester City and Liverpool share a minute’s silence for those who died at Hillsborough. Photo: @MCFC_EDS_ACAD
West Ham United 1-1 Reading
Anthony Scully’s second half equaliser means Reading and West Ham both remained near the bottom, although the latter have a game-in-hand. Sam Smith scored for 5th placed Reading after twenty minutes.
Next week:
23 April 2016: Everton vs Manchester City
23 April 2016: West Ham vs Liverpool
23 April 2016: Reading vs Blackburn Rovers
GROUP 2
| GROUP 2 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Middlesbrough U18 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 16 | ||
| 2 | Aston Villa U18 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 3 | Sunderland U18 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Leicester U18 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 5 | Spurs U18 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 6 | ||
| 6 | Arsenal U18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 5 | ||
| 7 | West Brom U18 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 5 | ||
| 8 | Wolves U18 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 1 | ||
Middlesbrough remain top, in similar comfort to Manchester City in Group 1. They are five points ahead after six games and are yet to lose.
Arsenal 1-2 Leicester City
Edward Nketiah scored his 19th goal of the season for Arsenal but a first under-18 goal for under-16 defender Sim Thandi and the winner from Kairo Mitchell continued Leicester’s fine goalscoring form, with 13 goals in six games.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Aston Villa
While their senior side are in turmoil after relegation to the Championship, Aston Villa’s under-18 side are in contention for the top spot in Group 2. Spurs’ Christian Maghoma scored an own goal just after half-time to leave Tottenham with their fourth loss of the campaign. Spurs have been inconsistent in Group 2, although they have scored 12 times, 11 of those came in just two games, their only two wins.
West Bromwich Albion 1-4 Sunderland
More to come…
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Middlesbrough
Nicu Carnat gave Wolves a 35th-minute opener at home and under-16 midfielder Sam Phillips doubled up before half-time. Yet Boro came back, scoring all three goals in the space of 10 minutes, to maintain their top spot, that is increasingly comfortable. Only two wins for Sunderland, including their game-in-hand with Arsenal, and a loss for Middlesbrough will see them not win Group 2. Meanwhile, Wolves confirmed their season as ending at the bottom of Group 2.
Next week:
23 April 2016: Sunderland vs Arsenal
GROUP 3
| GROUP 3 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Swansea U18 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 2 | Brighton U18 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 3 | Stoke U18 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Derby U18 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 5 | Man Utd U18 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6 | Southampton U18 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Newcastle U18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 4 | ||
| 8 | Norwich U18 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 1 | ||
With four teams playing this weekend, it remains incredibly tight at the top of Group 3. Swansea City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Stoke City, Derby County and Manchester United, the top five, could all still finish top.
Derby County 3-4 Swansea City
It was a cracker as these two teams played off, with the winner moving top, and Jordan Garrick scored in added time to win it for Swansea. Kellan Gordon gave Derby the lead within the opening ten minutes but the Swans were in front by 22 minutes, goals from Garrick and Liam Cullen. Derby’s Cameron Cresswell made it 2-2 after just 24 minutes. Before half-time, the Rams were in front thanks to Luke Thomas.
Stoke City 1-0 Southampton
Hakim Abdallah, who has just moved to Stoke, away from his home country France, scored the only goal to keep them with a chance of the top spot in Group 3. Early on, Abdallah drove strongly forward on the right edge of the box before placing a shot perfectly into the left side netting past Saints’ keeper Adam Parkes.
Next week:
22 April 2016: Southampton vs Derby County
22 April 2016: Norwich City vs Manchester United
23 April 2016: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Swansea City