Ten-man Man City suffer FA Youth Cup heartbreak vs Arsenal after epic comeback

Manchester City's dreams of FA Youth Cup glory were gunned down in the most heartbreaking of fashions at Arsenal in a semi-final that was settled by a 120th-minute winner.

City's youngsters were a goal and a man down after Lakyle Samuel's seventh-minute red card and Arsenal's scoring of the subsequent free-kick, but would produce a performance full of guts, discipline and desire to take the game to extra time, where they ultimately fell short in agonising fashion.

City's whole squad fell to the turf when Myles Lewis-Skelly headed home in injury time of the second half of extra-time after a heroic comeback that deserved so much more. Justin Oboavwuduo's 75th-minute equaliser gave City the rewards for their efforts in normal time but it would count for nothing as Arsenal progressed to the Youth Cup final.

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City's coaches had wanted to see what the players were made of in the biggest game of their careers. They passed that test with flying colours after a performance beyond their years despite players unable to walk by the end with cramp to a man. Despite the result, that showed Ben Wilkinson and his staff everything they wanted to know.

You can put all the plans, systems and processes in place, but nothing can account for City's nightmare start at the Emirates. Wilkinson wanted his players to trust the processes they have worked on throughout their academy journeys, this competition a chance to 'finish that pathway in style.'

Training had been intense, the starting XI was as strong as could be, and the side were sharp in the opening stages. Six minutes in, though, and everything went out of the window. On the transition, a fine through-ball found Omari