Man City complete remarkable comeback after 'random' struggle

Manchester City fell to the bottom of the Under-21 league last season but have bounced back in style this year

Manchester City Under-21s beat Newcastle on Monday night at the Joie Stadium. The game was sparsely attended but carried great significance as it meant the young Blues clinched top spot in the Premier League 2.

At the end of the 20-game first stage, Ben Wilkinson has coached the team to the top. An injury-time equaliser at Fulham last week prevented the West Londoners from leapfrogging them in the table, and a 4-0 win over Newcastle meant that City finished first in style.

The season is not over and no trophies have been handed out yet, with the league now going to a last-16 knockout format where City will be top seeds. However, there can already be satisfaction at the City Football Academy at how the Blues have bounced back from a thoroughly disappointing year.

City won the Under-21s league for three straight years between 2021 and 2023, but when changes were announced to the format coach Brian Barry-Murphy was already flagging concerns.

"It's going to be more random," he told MEN Sport. "We would normally play Aston Villa and say 'see you in the return fixture' but there isn't one.

"The benefits for us are going to be a lot of teams we haven't faced before. It's very difficult to predict."

With injuries and a small squad not helping, City were bottom of the league at Christmas.

There was minor improvement but by the end of last season they had limped to just 18 points from 20 games, finishing 23rd out of 26 teams to lose their aura as well as their crown.

This year though, City are back. Fifteen wins out of their twenty games has taken them to 47 points, two clear of second-placed Fulham.

Wilkinson and his side still have work to do to get over the line with knockout games adding more jeopardy, but their league performance has shown that City are back where they expect to be at youth level.

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