Our young Blues were embroiled in an entertaining game against Manchester City which ended 2-2.

The game was extremely fast paced as both sides were looking to put pressure on each other to stake their authority on the game.

The first chance of the match was a header by Vale, but he could not direct it on target. The young Citizens had a few chances of their own with Oscar Bobb and Will Dickson having close efforts.

It was our young Blues who broke the deadlock, with Vale pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area. Just before half-time though, the away side levelled as Kian Breckin’s shot from just outside the area found the top corner of the net, albeit with the aid of a deflection off Bashir Humphreys.

With a goal just before half-time, City carried their momentum with a second just after the break as Bobb fired into the net after a quick corner routine. There were several missed opportunities from the away side as goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli made key saves throughout the second period to keep us in the game.

This proved to be vital, as with time running out, second-half substitute Hall found some space at the edge of the box and stuck an effort which went underneath the goalkeeper to level the scores.

It was a great game which both sides contributed to as our development squad halted their run of defeats.

Team news

There were a number of changes made for this clash as Mark Robinson brought Xavier Mbuyamba, Vale and Humphreys back into his side after knocks kept them out against Arsenal.

Carney Chukwuemeka and Marcus Bettinelli were the senior team representatives in the game as they both started too.

Frantic start

The first 20 minutes of the game were frantic and end-to-end, two academies with tremendous amounts of talent on display. Our young Blues fashioned the first opportunity of the game as the in-form Dion Rankine lofted a delightful cross into the area, which met the head of Vale, but his effort sailed over the bar.

The away side were next to have a chance and they stung the gloves of Bettinelli in goal as a drilled effort from Dickson after good work from Adedire Mebude and Borges brought out a top save by the experienced keeper.

Close calls

Following the fast start from both sides, City settled into a rhythm and their high pressure almost gave them lead as Mbuyamba’s misplaced pass fell to Mebude, who laid it off to Bobb, but his curled effort was saved well by Bettinelli.

Soon after, Kian Breckin played a fantastic through-ball to Borges and the pacy winger, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, blazed his effort over the bar.

We came straight back at our opponents with a lovely piece of build-up play, which was led by Chukwuemeka. The summer signing drove into the area before playing a good pass into Mason Burstow, but with the goal gaping the young forward hooked his effort wide. It was a huge chance.

Goals in quick succession

It was not long until the deadlock was broken and on his return from injury Vale opened the scoring. Good work in the moments leading to the goal from Charlie Webster allowed Burstow to receive the ball in the area. His attempted shot ricocheted off a City defender and fell into the path of Vale, who fired into the net.

It was looking like our young Blues would head into the half-time break with the lead, but a loose ball in midfield was picked up by Breckin and he drove goalwards before shooting from distance. A deflection off Humphreys took the ball beyond Bettinelli and into the net.

Poor start to the second half

The second half’s first chance fell to Breckin as he capitalised on sloppy play in the middle of the park, but with only the keeper to beat Bettinelli won the battle, saving excellently.

However, the resulting corner was well-worked and Bobb jinked his way into the area, smashing from an acute angle to double his side’s lead.

Our young Blues were beginning to look stretched and a fast break from City gave them an opportunity to grab a third. Breckin drove towards goal and laid the ball off for Mebude, whose first-time effort was firmly palmed away by Bettinelli.

Pushing for an equaliser

It was not until the hour mark that we created our first chance of the second period. Chukwuemeka found himself in acres of space as he edged closer to goal, but his long-range effort flew over the bar.

Second-half substitute Hall was next to try his luck as he cut in sharply from the right-hand side of the pitch, his shot dropping just wide. Very soon after, Vale made a great run off the ball and was found by Omari Hutchinson, but his first-time shot was dragged harmlessly wide.

We almost levelled the scores as an early right-footed cross by Hutchinson found another substitute Jayden Wareham and he volleyed goalwards, but the goalkeeper Josh McNamara’s positioning helped him to save well.

The lively Mebude was played through on goal again but, as he had done all night, Bettinelli was in the right place to save with his face.

Equaliser found!

With just under 10 minutes to go, Hall, in a similar fashion to his earlier effort, cut in from the right and fired an shot which flew underneath the keeper into the net. McNamara will be very disappointed with that.

Almost instantly, though, from their kick-off, City should have gone ahead through Josh Adam as he was through on goal, but he shot wide.

There was a late shout for a penalty as Leo Castledine was seemingly tripped by a City defender, but the referee waved away the claims.

That was how the game would end. With both sides having led at points and both needing equalisers, a 2-2 draw seemed like a fair result after a high-intensity game.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Marcus Bettinelli; Alfie Gilchrist, Xavier Mbuyamba, Bashir Humphreys; Dion Rankine, Charlie Webster, Carney Chukwuemeka (Lewis Hall 64), Zak Sturge; Harvey Vale, Omari Hutchinson (Leo Castledine 77), Mason Burstow (Jayden Wareham 69)
Unusedsubs: Ben Elliot, Eddie Beach
Scorers: Vale 35, Hall 82
Booked: Rankine 66, Webster 90+1

Manchester City (4-3-3): Josh McNamara; Juan Carlos, Finley Burns, Kane Taylor (Max Alleyne 60), Tomas Galavez; Shea Carlos (c), Adedire Mebude, Kian Breckin (Terrell Agyemang 87); Will Dickson (Josh Adam 64), Oscar Bobb, Carlos Borges (Liam Smith 88)
Unused sub: Mikki Van Sas
Scorers: Breckin 45+1, Bobb 50
Booked: Agyemang 89