Matt Smith’s late strike saw Manchester City squeeze past Aston Villa by 2-1 and into the semi-finals of The FA Youth Cup.
The Blues travelled to Villa Park fresh from claiming the U18 Premier League North trophy having gone unbeaten this season, but they didn’t have it all their own way as Johan Abdoul opened the scoring for the hosts.
However, England Under-17 striker Jadon Sancho equalised shortly after and after hitting the crossbar twice in the second half, Smith’s deflected shot found its way in with three minutes remaining to send City – runners-up to Chelsea in the last two seasons – into the last four where they will play Preston North End or Stoke City.
City started the game brightly with Luke Bolton causing panic with his deliveries from out wide, but the home side opened the scoring when Abdoul headed home from a corner on eight minutes.
But Villa were pegged back almost immediately as three minutes later Sancho found space in the penalty area and managed to squeeze the ball home.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Viktor Johansson was called into action to deny Brahim Diaz twice as the sides went into half time level.
And the visitors started the second half just as they did the first with Diaz firing over the bar before hitting it on the hour mark, just seconds before captain Joel Latibeadiere had done so and Ed Francis saw a header cleared off the line.
That pattern of play continued until three minutes from time when Smith’s deflected effort found its way through a crowded penalty box and into the back of the net to send City into the final four.
