Ryan McAidoo marked another big night for Manchester City by scoring as the 17-year-old helped them beat Blackburn Rovers 4-1 in the FA Youth Cup semi-final on Friday night. The teenager, who has already made his senior debut this season, was central to the comeback after Blackburn led through Valentin Joseph.
McAidoo levelled for City with a low shot after cutting inside his marker, and that goal shifted the game back toward the team that had been strong favourites before kick-off. A few minutes later, Floyd Samba missed a penalty that could have changed the mood again, but Teddie Lamb put City ahead early in the second half before Reigan Heskey converted from the spot and Oliver Tevenan finished the job with a crashing strike from the edge of the box.
The performance fit the pattern McAidoo has built over the past two years since joining City from Chelsea's academy. He has regularly trained with the senior team this season and, after making his debut in the FA Cup demolition of Exeter and appearing again against Salford, he is now looking less like a prospect and more like a player on the edge of something bigger. Pep Lijnders has already described his pressing as “insane” and called him a “serious player.”
City's route to the final also mattered because it came with expectation attached. Blackburn had been seen as a side City should beat, and the semi-final offered a chance to steady the club's youth record after last year's FA Youth Cup final defeat to Aston Villa. Instead, the result sent City to a third successive final, where Crystal Palace or Manchester United now await them.
That is where McAidoo's night may matter most. City are trying to turn regular work with the senior squad into real first-team careers, and Friday's semi-final gave a glimpse of one of those players doing exactly that when it counted.
