U21s: Manchester City 4-4 Aston Villa

Aston Villa suffered late heartbreak as Manchester City registered an 89^th-minute equaliser in a breathless 4-4 draw on Friday night.

The Young Lions raced out of the blocks in their Premier League 2 encounter, opening the scoring inside the first minute courtesy of Travis Patterson, before Omari Kellyman added a second early on.

Justin Oboavwoduo quickly pulled one back for the hosts yet Villa captain Tommi O’Reilly made it 3-1 with just 22 minutes on the clock.

But City hit back again through Taione Sodje before Kellyman, who grabbed a brace at Southampton last week, again bagged a double to put the visitors into a 4-2 lead.

Yet there was still time during a pulsating seven-goal first half for Oboavwoduo to secure his second of the evening in injury time and ensure it was finely poised at the break.

And that was the way it remained until late on as Inigo Idiakez’s side looked to be heading towards their first PL2 win of the season, only for substitute Farid Alfa-Ruprecht to hit a last-gasp leveller for City.

Villa broke the deadlock inside the first minute, O’Reilly seeing his goalbound chip cleared to safety but only as far as Patterson, who pounced first time and converted with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area.

Kellyman made it 2-0 on the counter-attack in the 11^th minute, slotting home after Rico Richards laid the ball off to Patterson and he saw his shot smothered by City keeper George Murray-Jones.

Oboavwoduo halved Villa’s lead two minutes later as he found the net following a one-on-one, only for skipper O’Reilly to restore the visitors’ two-goal advantage after an impressive high press from the Young Lions as they caught out City at the back.

It was a pulsating clash which flowed from end to end and City were next to strike through Sodje, making it 3-2 just before the half hour.

But Kellyman made it four goals in two games following a swift break as he converted with a left-footed strike in the 41^st minute to make it 4-2.

Yet the first-half scoring was not finished, Oboavwoduo wrapping up a seven-goal first half in injury time to ensure there was just one goal in it at the break, with Kellyman coming close to a hat-trick moments later.

The entertaining encounter continued to be all action early in the second half as Kellyman and Richards threatened for Villa, only for Oliwier Zych to make a smart stop at the other end.

City were pressing for an equaliser but the visitors held firm and looked to be on their way to an impressive victory until their resistance was broken in the 89^th minute as Alfa-Ruprecht made it 4-4 in dramatic fashion.

There were still chances for both sides to win it in added time as Zych twice produced heroics for the Young Lions while Patterson saw his late chance saved, with Villa claiming their first point of the campaign.