Manchester City U19s beat Inter Milan U19s on penalties in the knock out stages of the UEFA Youth League held at the Manchester Academy Stadium on Tuesday evening, with Lukas Nmecha finding target in regulation time.

The 19-year old who skippered his team started alongside, midfield sensation, Tom-Dele Bashiru while his younger brother, Felix Nmecha was named on the bench.

City went behind to a Xian Emmers fortuitous effort, the midfielder's initial effort was not well cleared by the hosts goalkeeper, Daniel Grimshaw and the ball rebounded in.

But Nmecha picked himself from the turf to convert a 27th minute penalty after he was felled in the area, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to slot into the bottom right corner.

Carlo Poveda soon sent Nmecha through with a precise pass after the restart but the striker could not get enough touch to steer it home as the young Citizens continued to pile pressure on their visitors.

17-year old Felix Mmecha was thrown into the fray for Bashiru after 71 minutes and the youngster went close four minutes later, striking a ferocious shot down the left corner to force Inter goalkeeper, Vladad Dekic into a smart save.

The keenly fought contest eventually descended into penalties with all of Felix Nmecha, Edward Francis, Nabil Zoubdi all holding their nerves from the spot to send City through on 3-2.

Emmanuel Chinaza

Photo Credit : mancity.com