Sterling at the double against 10-man City

Kazaiah Sterling bagged a brace as our Under-23s fought back from behind to win 2-1 in torrential conditions at Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

After going behind to Taylor Richards’ strike on 13 minutes, we battled for parity and were given an important break as City went down to 10 men, following Ian Carlo Poveda-Ocampo’s sending-off just after the half-hour mark following a clash with George Marsh.

With the man advantage, Sterling put us back on terms when he latched onto a loose ball and placed an inch-perfect strike past City keeper Daniel Grimshaw just before the break. The forward then completed a fine afternoon as he won the game for us eight minutes from time, bundling Marsh’s cross home from close range.

A deluge of rain throughout the game made for testing conditions at the City Football Academy stadium. The ball zipped across the pitch throughout the game with strong winds also having a say on the direction of the ball. Such conditions played into the hands of the forwards and were vital to producing City’s opener. Creative winger Rabbi Matondo used the pace of the ball and his trickery to escape Tariq Hinds. Finding just an inch of space, the forward whipped the ball across the goal and, after a poor clearance, it fell to Richards who was waiting on the penalty spot to fire in.

Disappointed to concede the opener, there was a marked response from us as we stepped up our energy levels and began to press the City back line. The growth in pressure as well as the worsening of the conditions was having the desired effect, as the home side started to make mistakes.

The turning point of the game came in the 34th minute. With both sides trying to find that crucial next goal, the hosts found themselves down to 10 men. Jamie Bowden had won a free-kick just inside the City half following a foul by Poveda-Ocampo. Frustrated, the striker began to interfere as Marsh attempted to take the set piece and as the pair tussled, Poveda-Ocampo lashed out, Marsh going down clutching his face. It left referee Martin Woods little choice but to brandish the red card.

With the man advantage, we began to press even higher and became much braver on the ball, forcing City to make further mistakes, a strategy that paid off a minute before half-time. Bowden closed down City forward Felix Nmecha just inside his own half and as the midfielder cleared the ball, it rebounded off Nmecha and landed at the feet of Sterling. With plenty of room around him to run into, the striker turned past two defenders into the box, before firing sweetly past Grimshaw to put us level.

The rain continued to fall during the break and worsened as the second half began. Again, it was Matondo making the best use of the elements but with the loss of Poveda-Ocampo, the forward became isolated up top, which made it a much more comfortable afternoon for the central defensive duo of Japhet Tanganga and Jaden Brown. Another player who was certainly enjoying the conditions was Sterling. After bagging the leveller late in the first half, the striker was on the hunt for another in the second period.

In a flurry of chances just after the hour mark, Sterling fired two efforts wide before he was denied by a superb last-gasp block from City skipper Colin Rosler, who put his body on the line to keep the scores level. We continued to press for a winner into the late stages and had further opportunities to snatch one. First Marsh saw his effort from Rodel Richards’ dangerous cross saved well by Grimshaw before the City keeper was at it again as he got the better of Sterling in a one-on-one situation.

The striker deserved another goal, though, and he would eventually find one with just eight minutes remaining. Superb link-up play down the right wing sent Marsh free on the overlap to whip a teasing cross into the danger zone. Wedged between two defenders and with the keeper to beat, somehow Sterling managed to get enough on the ball to bundle it over the line to secure a big win in the Premier League 2.

Key moment

The game was turned on its head when the home side were reduced to 10 men following Poveda-Ocampo’s sending-off on 34 minutes.

The incident gave us a numerical advantage on the pitch with almost an hour still to play and we took full advantage to complete a league double over the Citizens, following a 2-0 home win back in September.

Coach’s view

Under-23s Coach Wayne Burnett was delighted with the desire shown by his side in testing conditions in Manchester. We were certainly well worth all three points in the torrential rain, but Wayne admitted there was a tinge of disappointment that we couldn’t take more of our chances against the Citizens.

“We deserved the win. It was a hard-fought game,” he said. “We had lots of chances but they defended very well. You’re thinking ‘will it be our day?’ but eventually we’ve probably scored through one of our least clean opportunities. I thought, even before they got a man sent off, we were playing better. We had some chances, they scored with their first shot at goal and I thought we were a bit unfortunate to be trailing 1-0. Saying that, when it was 11 v 11, we had two or three chances before they scored and we could have been 2-0 up. When a team’s a man down, it will always be difficult, especially when you have the style of play that both teams have. I think them being a man down eventually showed because we moved the ball quite nicely and we managed to score the first goal.

“Strangely I was more pleased with the first-half performance than the second-half performance, even though we probably dominated the game, because they had one less player on the pitch. We had something like 40 penalty box entries and 25 crosses so we dominated and had control of the game, we just couldn’t find a way through. We eventually did and I’m pleased for the group, for the players and for the staff, but there’s still lots and lots of work to do and we have to learn from every game we play.

“We had the opportunities and the chances to score one or two more today. It’s disappointing and I think the players who had the chances will be disappointed that they didn’t capitalise on them but it’s the hardest thing to do, to put the ball in the goal. The important thing is simply that we did that once more than them. We should have scored maybe one or two more, we should have had a penalty as well, but we’re pleased we’ve come away from a tough place with three points.”

Match data

Goals: Manchester City – Richards 13; Spurs – Sterling 44, 82.

Yellow card: Spurs – Hinds 14.

Red card: Manchester City – Poveda-Ocampo 34.

Referee: Martin Woods.

Venue: City Football Academy, Manchester.

Weather: Raining, three degrees.

Attendance: Behind closed doors.