Manchester City have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup following a 3-1 victory over Liverpool at the CFA Stadium, a tie with Southampton awaits.
Prior to the meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool, Academy Director, Mark Allen, admitted that he wasn't going to get carried away despite City's convincing victory over Reading that earned them the fourth round tie with Liverpool.
Speaking to City's in house media team he said; “Every year you set out your targets and the Youth Cup is always one of the most important competitions for any academy.
"As with every knockout cup competition, you have to take it one game at a time and not look any further than the next round.”
Strong starting lineup back up Allen's Youth Cup target
City's intentions were clear as they rolled out a formidable line up featuring the likes of Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz, both of whom have been in superb form for City in their Premier League 2 campaign as they pursue Everton for the summit.
City started as they meant to go on, dominating the possession and dictating much of the play from deep within the midfield as well as on the flanks.
It didn't take long for both Sancho and Diaz to make a nuisance of themselves out on the flanks. Both equipped with blistering pace and quick feet, they managed to ghost past the Reds defence but their final balls failing to find any of their teammates.
Liverpool found the chance to regroup on 16 minutes as a break in play saw City's left back, Edward Francis, need some medical attention following a blow to his nose.
Dele-Bashiru breaks the deadlock before Reds equalise on cusp of halftime
As City approached the half hour mark Tom Dele-Bashiru opened the scoring. Following a clearance from a Sancho shot, a thunderous left footed drive from the edge of the area left Kamil Grabara's net bulging, 1-0 City.
Liverpool wasted no time in grabbing an equaliser as they responded to going behind immediately, Rhian Brewster slipping through City's back line to latch onto a cross from Okera Simmonds and rifle his shot into the top left corner from six yards out, 1-1.
Half Time: Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
A neat one two between Phil Foden and Sancho saw the latter faced with a great chance to take the lead, Sancho however over complicating his footwork saw him closed down quickly, 53 minutes played.
City make chances count as they claim victory
City soon re-established their lead four minutes later. From a corner, Sadou Diallo ran through the Liverpool box unmarked to head home from Foden's delivery as City took a 2-1 lead. The game was almost put to bed when Sancho was faced with a one-on-one with Grabara minutes later, the Polish international however made himself big to give the reds a lifeline.
Into the final 20 minutes of normal time and Liverpool made the first substitution of the night, Liam Coyle being replaced by Liam Miller. Five minutes later Okera Simmonds made way for Bobby Adekanye, and City's Luke Bolton entered the fray as Phil Foden took a well earned rest.
Two minutes later City put the game to bed, Demeaco Duhaney's superb cross found the head of Nmecha who's flicked header looped over Grabara in the Liverpool goal.
As the game began to draw to a close Liverpool's last roll of the dice saw Brewster replaced by Toni Gomes, yet City continued to frustrate their opponents with their slower tempo and more conservative play as they looked to protect their lead.
It was a comfortable win for the Blues despite the best efforts of Liverpool who struggled to match City's pace and quality for large portions of the game
Full Time: Manchester City 3-1 Liverpool