Aston Villa U18s beat Man City to lift U18 Premier League National title

Aston Villa U18s beat Manchester City 1-0 in the U18 Premier League National final at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Cityzens created the first opportunity of the game when goalkeeper Sam Proctor parried Reigan Heskey’s shot wide of the post on four minutes.

Villa also came close to scoring inside five minutes through midfielder Bradley Burrowes, whose effort at the back post could not hit the target.

Midfielder Finlay Gorman nearly grabbed the opener for City in the 20th minute, but his effort rattled the post.

Before halftime, forward Ryan McAidoo thought he had given the Cityzens the lead when he tapped the ball into the net from a well-delivered cross.

However, the referee ruled it out because he had fouled Proctor in the build-up to the goal.

Aston Villa started the second half on the front foot but could not create clear-cut opportunities to threaten City’s goal.

Six minutes before the hour mark, McAidoo aimed to find the bottom corner with a left-footed shot, but Proctor denied his effort from scoring with his foot.

In the 59th minute, Matthew Henderson-Hall had to track back to prevent Burrowes from giving Villa the lead from a counter-attack, blocking the ball with his chest on the goal line.

On 75 minutes, midfielder TJ Carroll delivered a precise cross across the face of goal, and defender Leon Routh was in the right place to tap it in to give Villa the lead.

City could not find the equaliser as Villa held onto their lead to claim their first-ever National League title.

The West Midlands side also ended Man City’s 19-match unbeaten run to win the FA Youth Cup earlier this month.

They were also the winners of the U18 Premier League South, beating Southampton to the title by two points .