Chelsea U18 5-1 Man City U18: Five-star Blues romp to U18 Premier League title

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Evening Standard

·22 mai 2026

Chelsea U18 5-1 Man City U18: Five-star Blues romp to U18 Premier League title

Blues routed newly-crowned FA Youth Cup champions to secure title

Chelsea have been crowned U18 Premier League champions after routing Manchester City 5-1 in the national final at Stamford Bridge.

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The Blues won the U18 Premier League South during the league phase, to set up this one-off final with northern champions Manchester City.

Friday night’s hosts were undeniable underdogs to the visiting City, who were crowned FA Youth Cup champions last week, but wasted no time in taking control of the final.

Chizaram Ezenwata broke the deadlock for the hosts with just seven minutes played, scoring on the rebound after Ryan Kavuma-McQueen saw his effort saved. Two minutes later, Mathis Eboue doubled the Blues’ advantage with a smart finish into the bottom corner.

At the double: Ryan Kavuma-McQueen

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City then pulled one back through the very highly rated Ryan McAidoo, who has made one appearance in Pep Guardiola’s first team this season, but Chelsea were then fairly quick to put the tie to bed.

Kavuma-McQueen made up for his earlier miss to restore Chelsea’s two-goal advantage shortly before the break.

Sol Gordon added a fourth as the match ticked into injury time, before Kavuma-McQueen capped a five-star performance by netting his brace with the final kick of the game.

It is yet another honour for Chelsea’s famed academy, which has produced first-team regulars including club captain Reece James and Levi Colwill.

Reggie Walsh, who now has four first-team appearances under his belt including a start in last year’s Conference League semi-finals, played the full duration of the match.

Highly-rated striker Shumaira Mheuka was not in the matchday squad after he made his first-team debut in Tuesday night’s victory over Tottenham.

Emile Heskey’s son, Reigan, scored a late winner in the FA Youth Cup final last week, but started on the bench here and could not find a way through after coming on at half-time.