Manchester City's two-goal hero Will Dickson says patience was the key to his brace in the FA Youth Cup win over Oxford on Tuesday.
City took an early lead through Justin Oboavwoduo but the Blues had to bide their time against the visitors and it wasn't until 66 minutes when Dickson turned in a cross from left-back Tom Galvez - who would turn provider five minutes later with a near-identical move for Dickson to seal the win.
And striker Dickson says a half-time chat with Galvez was behind the matchwinning brace to set up a semi-final at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.
ALSO READ: City U18s copy Guardiola's Haaland tactic to book FA Youth Cup semi-final spot
"They defended quite well, quite compact. That's what they've worked on and it worked well for them," Dickson told MEN Sport after the win, reflecting on a game where he had to wait patiently to get involved in the game following a tight first half.
"We got the early goal, it really helped us. It was a really tough game. Our class showed through at the end. It can be frustrating [not getting involved] at times, I'm quite used to it, especially in this competition. Teams will play to their advantages and what they're good at. As a striker it's about being patient and waiting for the opportunity. That's what I did today.
"I spoke to Tom at half time] and said you need to find me in the box. That's what he did to be fair, two great crosses and I was happy to put them in. I saw that in the first half we were quite successful on the left side so I knew the chance would come. When the chance came I needed to put it away."
Coach Ben Wilkinson agreed with his striker about the need to sharpen up at half time, adding he was pleased that two of his older players took it upon themselves to notice the space that was opening up on City's left.
He explained: "We spoke at half time a lot about crossing and positions in the box. I thought we were wasteful in the first half. It's something we've worked a hell of a lot on in terms of our final third and crossing options, positions in the box because we have so many of those moments.
"We do a lot of work on that but we were poor in the first half. When we reviewed the videos, positions in the box, opposite winger not at the back post, full-back positions not being occup[ied as much as they should. Crosses or too many touches allowing them to recover in the box. It's something we spoke about at HT and we definitely didn't master it in the second half but the third goal was an example for me of what our players are capable of.
"It was a real simple back-to-front action but done with high technical quality. It's very hard to play against. It's something we have to do better at more consistently over the course of a game."
READ NEXT:
