2016 Premier League 2: Friday's U23 Scores, Updated Rankings, Fixtures
Manchester City’s under-23 side moved up to third place in the Premier League 2 on Friday as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at White Hart Lane.
Elsewhere in the top flight, Southampton missed out on the chance to move to the top of the league as they played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal. Chelsea faced Leicester City ahead of the senior sides’ meeting on Saturday, although plenty will be hoping that game is more entertaining than Friday’s stalemate.
In the second tier, Wolverhampton Wanderers moved to the top of the table with a 4-1 win over Newcastle United, including Donovan Wilson's splendid hat-trick.
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Here are the updated standings after this round of fascinating fixtures and a look at the matches to follow in the coming days in Premier League 2.
| 1 | Tottenham U23 | 1-2 | Manchester City U23 |
| 1 | Arsenal U23 | 0-0 | Southampton U23 |
| 1 | Leicester City U23 | 0-0 | Chelsea U23 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U23 | 4-1 | Newcastle United U23 |
| 2 | Stoke City U23 | 3-1 | Middlesbrough U23 |
| 1 | Everton U23 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 15 |
| 2 | Southampton U23 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 14 |
| 3 | Manchester City U23 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 14 |
| 4 | Liverpool U23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 12 |
| 5 | Sunderland U23 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 10 | +0 | 10 |
| 6 | Chelsea U23 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 9 |
| 7 | Reading U23 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 9 |
| 8 | Manchester United U23 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 8 |
| 9 | Arsenal U23 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 7 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur U23 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 6 |
| 11 | Derby County U23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 3 |
| 12 | Leicester City U23 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 3 |
| 1 | Wolves U23 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 13 |
| 2 | Swansea City U23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 |
| 3 | West Bromwich Albion U23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 12 |
| 4 | West Ham United U23 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 11 |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers U23 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 |
| 6 | Newcastle United U23 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 10 |
| 7 | Fulham U23 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 9 |
| 8 | Middlesbrough U23 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 8 |
| 9 | Aston Villa U23 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 7 |
| 10 | Stoke City U23 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 7 |
| 11 | Brighton & Hove Albion U23 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 6 |
| 12 | Norwich City U23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 3 |
| Monday, Oct 17. | Aston Villa U23 | West Ham U23 |
| Monday, Oct 17. | Brighton U23 | Blackburn U23 |
| Monday, Oct 17. | Norwich U23 | West Brom U23 |
| Monday, Oct 17. | Reading U23 | Everton U23 |
| Monday, Oct 17. | Swansea U23 | Fulham U23 |
| Tuesday, Oct. 18 | Manchester United U23 | Liverpool U23 |
| Wednesday Oct. 19 | Sunderland U23 | Derby U23 |
Friday Recap
In an eye-catching clash between Spurs and City, the hosts found themselves with a mountain to climb early on as they conceded and were reduced to 10 men.
City’s Paolo Fernandes played a delightful ball over the top of the Tottenham defence for Javairo Dilrosun, who finished calmly in the sixth minute.
A nasty challenge from Ryan Loft on City’s Rodney Kongolo prompted the referee into brandishing red midway through the half, and Spurs were subsequently pinned back for long spells. Before the break, Fernandes has the chance to double the visitors’ lead from the penalty spot, although Alfie Whiteman stopped his effort.
However, the midfielder did eventually get the reward for a brilliant display in the second half, latching on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and doubling his side’s lead.
The Spurs Twitter feed suggested it was undeserved:
"#PL2: @ManCity have a second goal but it's against run of play. Ball breaks to Fernandes and he hammers home from 20 yards. 0-2, 55mins
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 14, 2016"
Spurs did grab a consolation late on, although City were pretty comfortable seeing out the game. The away side could have added to their tally, but they would have been delighted to have secured three points from a testing game.
It was a win that moved them up into third, level on points with second-placed Southampton. The Saints were held to a 0-0 draw on the road against Arsenal, missing out on the chance to jump above Everton and into first.
There was another game to forget between Leicester and Chelsea, too. The match’s main talking point was an 81st-minute red card for Foxes midfielder Lamine Sherif for two cautions; the Blues were unable to make their numerical advantage count in the latter stages, though.
In the second division, Wolves moved to the top of the table, although their win over the Magpies was far from straightforward.
They were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes through Connor Johnson and Wilson playing some brilliant football to boot. As the team’s official Twitter feed noted, first-team boss Walter Zenga was in attendance for this one, with the youngsters in gold purring:
After the break, Newcastle fought back, and when they scored from the penalty spot on the hour-mark, prompting a second yellow card for Wolves’ Aaron Simpson, it was game on again.
Despite being a man down, the home side, and Wilson in particular, still posed a major threat on the counter-attack. Indeed, the young forward showed his alertness twice in the final stages, adding some gloss to the scoreline and grabbing his hat-trick in the process.
