Manchester City U21 1-0 Fulham U21

Fulham Under-21s suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 1-0 to Manchester City.

The young Cityzens put in a strong second half performance, with Carlos Borges' strike proving to be the difference.

After appearing on the bench for our First Team win over Nottingham Forest, midfielder Luke Harris made a late trip to feature for Steve Wigley’s side.

And following an impressive cameo in the Premier League Cup earlier this week, Martial Godo earned a spot in the starting 11 in place of Kristian Šekularac, who began on the bench.

The young Whites’ game plan was clear right from the off, putting the hosts under early pressure and forcing them into some errors with high energy pressing. Terry Ablade broke away down the right-hand side, but his cross failed to find a man in white.

Alex Borto made a great stop on 11 minutes to keep us level following a nice City move, but the flag was soon raised for offside.

City continued to grow into the game as the opening half progressed. Striker Will Dickson took aim from the edge of the box, but his low effort rolled into the grateful hands of Borto.

Matt Dibley-Dias was forced into some defending as we approached the 20-minute mark. After a neat overlap down the right, our Brazilian had to fire the ball over his own crossbar after reading the initial low cross.

Brian Barry-Murphy’s side were finding success with those wide overlaps. Charlie Robinson got himself in the right place to clear another low delivery, this time fizzed in from the left.

Ablade tested goalkeeper Mikki van Sas five minutes before the break, pouncing on an error at the back before watching as his low shot was comfortably collected. Just a few seconds later, our number nine had the ball in the net before the whistle was blown for offside.

After a fairly cagey 20 minutes, the two teams went in at the break all square.

The home side came out strong after the interval and should’ve gone ahead early in the second half. After an initial cross was put in, the ball bounced out to Kian Breckin, whose first-time effort flew just wide.

City created an even bigger chance just a few minutes later. Winger Oscar Bobb flew down the right before cutting in and blazing his following strike over from close-range. The Norwegian had most of the goal to aim at.

Nevertheless, we were still showing our threat in patches. Ollie O’Neill’s attempted cross from the left side of the penalty area crashed against the outside of the post before bouncing back out. The danger was soon cleared.

Another huge chance came City’s way on 67 minutes. Substitute Dire Mebude broke the offside trap before sliding a perfect pass across to Dickson. He was perfectly placed to put his side ahead, but somehow slid his shot wide.

After creating some decent chances, City took the lead. Borges shifted the ball onto his right foot before fizzing a low shot into the far bottom corner.

Borges should’ve added a second five minutes later. He found himself through on goal, but Borto came rushing off his line to make an excellent save to deny him.

Our lads applied some pressure late on, but were unable to get themselves level.