Blackpool recovered from an early deficit to defeat Aston Villa's Under-21 side 3-2 at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy, according to BBC. In the same night's group-stage action, Port Vale scored five unanswered goals against Manchester City's development squad.
Villa's Fletcher Boyd opened the scoring in the 29th minute, but the Seasiders responded through Zac Ashworth, Jerry Yates and Jordan Brown to take control of the match. Markie Meade reduced the margin for Villa in stoppage time, though it came too late to change the result.
The outcome leaves Blackpool second in Northern Group B. Villa sit at the foot of the table with no points from their campaign so far, the BBC reports.
Why it matters
The EFL Trophy's group stage pits senior lower-league clubs against Premier League academy teams, and Tuesday's results underlined how demanding those cross-divisional meetings can be for young sides. Three of the four top-flight youth teams in action lost, with only Arsenal avoiding defeat.
For Blackpool, the comeback offered a morale boost and kept them in contention in their group. For Villa's youngsters, the defeat extended a difficult start. Port Vale's result, meanwhile, arrived against the backdrop of a poor league position — the club sits next to bottom in League Two — making the margin of victory against top-tier opposition all the more notable.
Port Vale punish City inside 34 minutes
At Vale Park, Manchester City's Under-21s conceded four times inside the opening 34 minutes. Maleace Asamoah broke the deadlock before Jaheim Headley, Max Watters, Lewis Montsma and Keyrol Figueroa added further goals to complete a 5-0 rout.
Vale manager Jon Brady told BBC Radio Stoke that his side treated the fixture seriously and fielded a strong lineup with the intention of winning it. He said he was pleased his players found the net five times.
Manchester City's official club channels confirmed that their Elite Development Squad exits the competition following the defeat.
Arsenal the exception as Everton and Wimbledon slip
Arsenal's Under-21s were the only Premier League academy side to win on the night, coming from behind to beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 away. Callum Maycock had put the League One hosts ahead, but substitute Evan Mooney equalised five minutes after entering the pitch, and Emerson Nwaneri scored the winner with three minutes remaining.
The result puts Arsenal's youngsters top of Southern Group F on six points, with Wimbledon second.
Everton, by contrast, remain without a point in Northern Group E after losing 2-1 at Shrewsbury Town. Michael Golding put Salop in front, Omari Benjamin levelled for the Blues, and Jeval Thompson-McKenzie struck the decisive goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
The group stage continues, with the remaining fixtures set to determine which sides progress and which academy teams exit the competition.
