Sunderland’s under-18s crashed to a 4-0 defeat at the Academy of Light on Saturday as Manchester City produced an outstanding display on Wearside.
City, who currently sit second in the table, made a bright start to the game but they were thwarted early on as ‘keeper Oliver Pain produced a number of superb stops.
But on 31 minutes they broke the deadlock from the penalty spot as Pain fumbled and subsequently brought down Lorenzo Gonzalez in an attempt to regain possession.
Ian Poveda stepped up and did the rest.
The pressure continued from City with Poveda clattering the post soon after, but the visitors didn’t have to wait long to add to their advantage as Tominia Dele-Bashiru hammered home from 18 yards.
Sunderland battled hard and they almost pulled one back as Lee Connelly fired over from Jack Diamond’s low pass, but on 56 minutes it was 3-0 as Poveda grabbed his second of the game.
City completed the scoring and wrapped up the points with 25 minutes remaining as Sancho dived in from the left and smashed the ball low into the corner.
Speaking post-match, manager Elliott Dickman admitted it was a day to forget for Sunderland’s youngsters.
“It was a bad day at the office – they were by far the better side and were outstanding.