Aston Villa moved to within a point of the Under-18 Premier League summit with a hard-fought win at Norwich City on Tuesday night.
The Young Lions were in command at half-time, holding a two-goal lead via an own goal from Gabriel Keita and one from Jack McGrath.
However, their advantage was wiped out in the space of four second-half minutes when Toby Chilvers followed up a goal from Finlay Corke.
Villa recovered their composure and secured all three points courtesy of Cole Brannigan’s 73rd-minute winner.
Possession
62%Shots
11Shots On Target
6Corners
3Fouls
81
0
Cards
2
0
A positive start in Norfolk yielded the opening goal after six minutes for Jimmy Shan’s team, who saw Trai-Varn Mulley’s cross strike the unfortunate Keita and roll into the net after goalkeeper Henry Bullen had missed his punch.
The visitors were relentless in their pressing, winning the ball in dangerous areas, and one such instance led to their second goal on 16 minutes.
Having stolen possession back in the final third, Teddie Bloomfield delivered a cross from the left and watched on as McGrath lashed home a loose ball in the box.
Norwich had a goal ruled out for a foul on TJ Carroll as they looked to hit back before Villa came close to a third via Brannigan and then Leon Routh.
City came out of the blocks strongly at the start of the second half and pulled one back when Corke squeezed the ball past Sam Proctor following a scramble in the penalty area.
They were level just four minutes later when a header back across goal struck Chilvers and rebounded over the line, despite the best efforts of the Villa ‘keeper to scoop it clear.
Bloomfield spurned a great chance to put the away team back in front when he headed over from close range, but it proved to matter for little as Brannigan bagged the winner with 17 minutes to play.
Some great pressing from Mulley saw the ball break to the forward just outside the box, and he curled a first-time shot beyond Bullen to strike the decisive blow.
Victory leaves Villa in second place, one point behind leaders Southampton with two games in hand.
Norwich U18: Bullen (Binnie 45'), Oligbo (Glossop 79'), Okpiahele, Keita, Ozcan, Towler, Williams, Daley (Northover 79'), Chilvers (Bracking 76'), Tree (Tavares 31'), Corke
Subs: Glossop, Binnie, Northover, Tavares, Bracking
Aston Villa U18: Proctor, McWilliams (Wilson 86'), Routh, Carroll, Bloomfield (Quinn 70'), Jenner, Lynskey, Mulley, Brannigan, McGrath (Rodrigo Fortes 56'), Meade (Burgess 56')
Subs: Rodrigo Fortes, Asemota, Quinn, Wilson, Burgess