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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

31 goals in 24 hours - How Man City's ruthless trophy hunt stretches well beyond first team

It started at 7.21pm on Friday when Cole Palmer stroked home a lovely finish for Manchester City under-23s in their final game of the season at the Etihad. Just over 24 hours later, at 7.26pm at Elland Road on Saturday, Fernandinho's bullet finish capped off a fourth win for a City team in the space of a single day - with an incredible 31 goals scored in the process.

City's men took another big step towards the Premier League with their win at Leeds, while the U23s celebrated retaining their Premier League 2 in style the night before with a 7-0 drubbing of Everton. The under-18s, who were also crowned divisional champions this week, went even better and were 13-0 winners against Newcastle.

The two goals conceded by City Women in the WSL were the only goals against in the period, but they won't mind too much as they beat Birmingham 7-2 to go third in the table. It's a 31-2 aggregate scoreline across the four teams that highlights the dominance City have at all levels of the game these days. And they are on course to add more silverware to the cabinet by the end of the season.

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The U23s lifted the PL2 trophy shortly after their 7-0 win on Friday, with the sensational Palmer guiding them to a 3-0 half-time lead with two brilliant finishes and a fine assist. Kayky and Liam Delap took over after the break with the next three goals, before Darko Gyabi's good goal to seal a win that could easily have been more.

That marks the end of another successful season for the EDS, with the title retained after a summer overhaul of players and staff. The likes of Palmer, Delap, Kayky, James McAtee and Romeo Lavia all appear ready to push into the first team even more, with the Everton rout evidence that they are far too good for youth football anymore.

But if those key players play elsewhere next season - for the first team or out on loan - then City will be confident that they have another generation of promising young players coming through from the U18s. Having sealed their U18 Premier League North trophy - another title retained back-to-back - Ben Wilkinson's youngsters will go on to compete for the National Final that they won last year.

To celebrate their title, the youth team scored a ridiculous 13 goals against Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime. Kian Breckin got the ball rolling after five minutes, before Will Dickson and Nico O'Reilly had the Blues three-up before 15 minutes. A Carlos Borges double, another from O'Reilly, and a Josh Adam strike on the stroke of half-time saw the U18s equal the U23s' 7-0 scoreline by the interval.

Dickson and O'Reilly completed second-half hat-tricks, with Dire Mebude and Matthew Whittingham also scoring, along with Adam's second of the game to seal a 13-goal win ahead of another trophy lift.

At the same time, metres away from the training pitch where the U18s were playing, the women's team were securing a vital win of their own at the Academy Stadium.

Bunny Shaw has had to wait for chances this season after signing in the summer, but made a statement performance against Brighton on Saturday with two goals in the first 12 minutes to put City in control, strengthened when Caroline Weir added a third on 16 minutes. However, City's lead was legged back by two Brighton efforts before half-time, and the game was far more tense than it should have been.

Shaw restored the three-goal lead by the hour-mark, though with her third and fourth goals of the afternoon, before Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp sealed another seven-goal win for a City team in 16 hours.

So the onus was on the men to follow the other teams and secure three points at Leeds. It wasn't a vintage performance, but Pep Guardiola won't complain with a 4-0 win to chip away at Liverpool's goal difference and return back to the top of the Premier League table.

It was a victory that keeps City on course for the Premier League title, keeping the possibility of a 'double-treble' for City after they won the Premier League, PL2 and U18 Premier League last year. So far, two of those sides have successfully retained their crowns.

While Wilkinson is challenging his youngsters to bottle that momentum ahead of their national final, EDS coach Brian Barry-Murphy says his players must now play a supporting role to help the first team in their remaining two competitions.

"Our job isn't done this season," he said after the Leeds win. "We still have to provide support to the first team for as long as they remain in competitions, which hopefully will be significantly longer and our players will be looking to support that in whatever way we can."

Wilkinson said on Saturday: “It was a great way for the lads to celebrate, it was nice to win it and get the trophy on home soil rather than being away, so it's been a great day for us. It’s also been a great 24 hours with the Elite Development Squad last night, so hopefully we can go and finish the season off now and get another one.

“It would be really nice if we can cap it off by getting over the line in these last two or three games and ultimately win the National final. Ultimately, the lads are desperate to play in that final and not everyone can play.

“They know they have to be right at it in games and training and keep their standards high to have a chance of playing in the final and try and get over the line in that game."

The women won't follow it up with the Women's Super League title, after an injury-hit start to the season, but a remarkable turnaround since December has seen them lose just once in 21 games with 11 runs in a row currently. In that time they have won the Continental Cup, reach the FA Cup final, and put themselves in pole position to finish third and qualify for the Champions League.

United currently occupy third, but have played a game more and only lead City by a point - with inferior goal difference, too. If City beat Birmingham on Wednesday, or even get a draw, they will just need to match United's result on Sunday's final day to finish third. City are at mid-table Reading, while United are at Chelsea - who are top of the league and may need to win to win the title.

After winning the League Cup already, if City could add an FA Cup to their collection, it would be a fine return from a season that started so badly. It would set them up well for next year, and keep the culture of winning that is coursing through the club from top to bottom.

If the Women's Cup is won, the men win the league and Champions League, and the under-18s win their national final, City would have seven trophies from their four biggest teams this season. That's in addition to the under-17 Premier League Cup already in the cabinet.

Those trophies won't be won just because of those 31 goals between Friday night and Saturday night, but it's a headline statistic that proves City are doing something right.

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