Four Premier League academy sides went out on Tuesday night in the EFL Trophy and three of them were beaten. The one that got away with it was Arsenal, and the senior team could have done with borrowing whatever the under-21s had.
The heaviest beating went to Manchester City, who were four down inside 34 minutes against a Port Vale side sitting next to bottom of League Two. Maleace Asamoah opened it. Jaheim Headley, Max Watters, Lewis Montsma and Keyrol Figueroa made it five by the end. Vale manager Jon Brady had picked a strong side and said afterwards he had no interest in treating the night as an exercise.
Brady's Vale attack it and get five
"It's a competitive fixture and we attacked it with a strong team," Brady told BBC Radio Stoke. "We attacked it to win the game and I'm glad we scored five goals."
Vale now top Northern Group D with seven points. City sit third.
At Bloomfield Road the scoring went the other way first. Fletcher Boyd put Villa's youngsters ahead in the 29th minute before Blackpool came back through Zac Ashworth, Jerry Yates and Jordan Brown. Markie Meade pulled one back for Villa in stoppage time and that was as close as it got. The Seasiders are second in Northern Group B. Villa are bottom of theirs and have yet to take a point from the competition.
Shrewsbury leave it late against Everton
Everton's night was decided in the second minute of added time. Michael Golding had given Shrewsbury the lead, Omari Benjamin levelled for the Blues, and then Jeval Thompson-McKenzie struck the winner. Everton remain pointless in Northern Group E.
"Tonight was a great result for everyone and I thought the lads thoroughly deserved it," Shrewsbury boss Gavin Cowan told BBC Radio Shropshire. "It's a great testament to the quality of this football club."
Arsenal's youngsters spare the clean sweep
Which left Arsenal at AFC Wimbledon, against a side a division above them, on the same night their first team were losing to Fleetwood Town. Callum Maycock put Wimbledon in front. With 18 minutes left the Gunners were heading for the sort of evening their seniors were already having at Highbury Stadium.
Then Evan Mooney, on as a substitute five minutes earlier, equalised, and Emerson Nwaneri scored with three minutes to go. Arsenal lead Southern Group F with six points, Wimbledon second. Two very different Arsenal results in the same few hours, and only one of them involved players old enough to drive.
Match facts: EFL Trophy, Tuesday 27 October 2026. Blackpool 3-2 Aston Villa U21 (Boyd 29'; Ashworth, Yates, Brown; Meade 90+). Port Vale 5-0 Manchester City U21 (Asamoah, Headley, Watters, Montsma, Figueroa). Shrewsbury Town 2-1 Everton U21 (Golding; Benjamin; Thompson-McKenzie 90+2'). AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Arsenal U21 (Maycock; Mooney, Nwaneri 87'). Only the goal times listed were given by the source.
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