Barclays U21 Premier League 2016: Saturday Results, Updated Table and Schedule
Manchester City closed the gap on Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Under-21 Premier League by defeating their bitter rivals 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Ashley Smith-Brown's well-taken strike after 17 minutes was enough to hand City all three points and propel them up to third in the table, while United were left to rue only their third defeat of the campaign.
Elsewhere, Stoke City beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 to keep their Group 2 title bid alive.
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Here's a recap of all of Saturday's action, updated league standings and a look ahead to the upcoming U21 Premier League fixtures.
| Date | Time | Home | Away |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 1 p.m. GMT/8 a.m. ET | Newcastle Utd U21 | Fulham U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Aston Villa U21 | Swansea U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Blackburn U21 | Arsenal U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Derby U21 | Brighton U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Everton U21 | Middlesbrough U21 |
| Sunday, Feb. 22 | 12 p.m. GMT/7 a.m. ET | Liverpool U21 | Sunderland U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Southampton U21 | Reading U21 |
| Monday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET | Wolves U21 | West Ham U21 |
| 1 | Manchester United U21 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 12 | +22 | 34 |
| 2 | Sunderland U21 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 11 | +17 | 32 |
| 3 | Manchester City U21 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 24 |
| 4 | Everton U21 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 23 |
| 5 | Reading U21 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 21 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur U21 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 34 | -1 | 20 |
| 7 | Chelsea U21 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 18 |
| 8 | Liverpool U21 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 24 | -6 | 18 |
| 9 | Southampton U21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 31 | -9 | 15 |
| 10 | Middlesbrough U21 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 13 |
| 11 | Norwich City U21 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 36 | -18 | 12 |
| 12 | Leicester City U21 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 36 | -19 | 12 |
| 1 | Derby County U21 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 35 |
| 2 | Arsenal U21 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 15 | +14 | 30 |
| 3 | Stoke City U21 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 28 |
| 4 | Aston Villa U21 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 28 |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion U21 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 20 | 15 | +5 | 26 |
| 6 | West Ham United U21 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 28 | +0 | 24 |
| 7 | Swansea City U21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 20 |
| 8 | Fulham U21 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 19 |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers U21 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 21 | -3 | 17 |
| 10 | Newcastle United U21 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 28 | -5 | 17 |
| 11 | Wolverhampton U21 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 27 | -11 | 9 |
| 12 | Brighton & Hove Albion U21 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 29 | -20 | 8 |
Smith-Brown Secures Bragging Rights
City and United came into Saturday's clash off the back of contrasting form.
City had lost their two previous matches—one of which was against United—while the Red Devils had won nine of their last 10 matches.
So it's safe to say the hosts were very much the underdogs at the Etihad Stadium, and the game started as expected.
United were applying plenty of pressure on the City goal, with Joe Rothwell's free-kick forcing a decent save out of Angus Gunn in the early exchanges.
City's Spanish left-back Angelino then found himself at the right place at the right time to clear James Weir's effort off the line.
Having survived that early onslaught, City finally got a foothold in the game and started to look dangerous going forward themselves.
Aaron Nemane was making a nuisance of himself, and he had a case for a penalty on 10 minutes when he went down under the challenge of Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but the referee waved away appeals.
It was a very open, exciting game in the first half, with both sides looking like scoring every time they went forward. It was the hosts who did take the lead with 17 minutes on the clock, but through a very unlikely source.
Smith-Brown was given far too much time and space after venturing forward from right-back, he then decided to take aim with a low drive, which found its way past Joel Pereira in the United goal.
City's official Twitter account captured the youngster’s celebrations:
That goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of United, as it was City doing all the pressing in the run-up to half-time.
And even though Nemane and Will Keane both had chances to chalk up an equaliser, the hosts went in at the break 1-0 to the good.
City came out for the second half as they started the first, with Pereira instantly called into action to deny a stinging drive from Isaac Buckley.
At the other end, the ever-impressive Marcus Rashford had a vicious effort of his own from the left wing that Gunn did well to save, and the rebound just evaded Keane coming in.
Keane then made way with the first team's FA Cup meeting with Shrewsbury on Monday in mind, and that much seemed to leave United out of ideas going forward.
Instead, City went in search of a second, and they could have had it when Lukas Nmecha found himself in acres of space in the United box, only for his shot to go narrowly wide.
The hosts were then happy to see out time, and despite wave after wave of United pressure, they crossed the line for three crucial points.
Manchester City face another tough-looking test in their next encounter against Liverpool, who will head to Manchester off the back of an impressive 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough on Thursday.
Table-topping United, meanwhile, will hope they can rediscover their touch in front of goal when they travel to struggling Boro on February 29.
In Saturday's other match, George Waring and Dom Telford turned a tricky situation around for Stoke City, who completed a comeback to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1.
Samir Nabi had given the visitors the lead after a defensive miscue, but Waring tied things up before half-time with a powerful header. After the break, both teams had chances, but it was Telford who decided the match with a sweet strike after Waring turned his defender inside out.
