2014–15 Premier League International Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 October 2014 – 8 May 2015 | 
| Teams | 16 (from 6 associations) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Manchester City (1st title) | 
| Runners-up |  Porto | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 | 
| Goals scored | 96 (3.1 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) |  Harry Panayiotou  Leandro Silva (6 goals) | 
The 2014–15 Premier League International Cup was the inaugural season of the Premier League International Cup, a European club football competition organised by the Premier League for under-21 players.[1]
Qualification
For English sides qualification was via performance in the 2013–14 Barclays Under 21 Premier League with the top eight sides qualifying for the competition. Liverpool U21s and Manchester United U21s did not take up the opportunity to enter the competition and they were replaced with West Ham U21s and Norwich City U21s who finished 9th and 10th respectively.[2] Entry of European teams was by invitation and was influenced by the quality of each club’s academy.[1]
Group stage
Group-stage matches were played between 15 October 2014 and 31 January 2015. The teams were drawn into four groups of four with two English sides and two European sides in each group.
| Color key in group tables | 
|---|
| Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter finals | 
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 | 
|  Porto | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 
|  Norwich City | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 3 | 
|  Borussia Mönchengladbach | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | 
| 19 December 2014 | Chelsea  | 1–1 |  Borussia Mönchengladbach | |
| Brown  89' | Report | Rodriguez  61' | Attendance: 252 | 
| 23 December 2014 | Chelsea  | 5–0 |  Norwich City | |
| Kiwomya  23' Gafaiti  47' (o.g.) Boga  66' Solanke  74', 89' | Report | 
| 27 January 2015 | Norwich City  | 1–0 |  Borussia Mönchengladbach | Norwich | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris  63' | Report | Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 3,816 Referee: Neil Hair | 
| 11 February 2015 | Porto  | 2–2 |  Borussia Mönchengladbach | Aldershot | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silva  2' (pen.) Pité  63' Carlos  73' | Report | Berg  38' (pen.), 74' (pen.) | Stadium: The Recreation Ground | 
| 4 March 2015 | Norwich City  | 1–2 |  Porto | Norwich | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becchio  54' (pen.) | Report | Silva  15' (pen.) Costa  57' | Stadium: Colney Training Centre | 
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Athletic Bilbao | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | 
|  Fulham | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | 
|  PSV Eindhoven | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | 
|  West Ham United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 3 | 
| 15 October 2014 | West Ham United  | 3–5 |  Athletic Bilbao | London | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | Fanimo  18' Lee  77' Bywater  90' | Report | García  2', 89' Seguin  19' Pask (o.g.)  32' Barco  91' | Stadium: Upton Park Referee: Ashvin Degnarain | 
| 28 October 2014 | Athletic Bilbao  | 0–1 |  PSV Eindhoven | Aldershot | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Vloet  61' | Stadium: Recreation Ground | 
| 19 November 2014 | West Ham United  | 2–1 |  PSV Eindhoven | London | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bywater  37' Sadlier  48' | Report | Rudović  3' | Stadium: Upton Park | 
| 8 December 2014 | Fulham  | 3–2 |  West Ham United | London | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | Eisfeld  18' Plumain  45+1' Casasola  67' | Report | McCallum  25', 35' | Stadium: Rush Green Referee: Ian Fissenden | 
| 17 December 2014 | Fulham  | 1–2 |  Athletic Bilbao | London | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams  50' | Report | Bilbao  29' García  33' | Stadium: Motspur Park Attendance: 108 | 
| 21 January 2015 | Fulham  | 2–1 |  PSV Eindhoven | London | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | Plumain  65' (pen.), 90+4' (pen.) | Report | Boljević  20' Sanoh  64' | Stadium: Motspur Park Attendance: 52 | 
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Leicester City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 9 | 
|  Manchester City | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 6 | 
|  Benfica | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 3 | 
|  Schalke 04 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | 
| 29 October 2014 | Schalke 04  | 0–1 |  Benfica | Hyde | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Sanches  59' | Stadium: Princes Park | 
| 18 November 2014 | Leicester City  | 2–0 |  Schalke 04 | Leicester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Dodoo  27' Hopper  58' | Report | Stadium: King Power Stadium Referee: Ollie Yates | 
| 21 November 2014 | Manchester City  | 3–1 |  Benfica | Hyde | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Ntcham  8' Fofana  30' Barker  40' | Report | Fonte  16' | Stadium: Princes Park | 
| 24 November 2014 | Leicester City  | 2–0 |  Benfica | Manchester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Lindelöf (o.g.)  11' Hopper  17' | Report | Stadium: Academy Stadium Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis | 
| 18 January 2015 | Manchester City  | 5–1 |  Schalke 04 | Manchester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 GMT | Ambrose  7' Ntcham  9' Barker  22' Byrne  62' Hiwula  90' | Report | Talarski  37' | Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: 5,800 Referee: Tom Nield | 
| 2 February 2015 | Manchester City  | 2–3 |  Leicester City | Manchester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Pozo  4' Ntcham  20' | Report | Panayiotou  34', 52' Stankevičius  46' | Stadium: Academy Stadium | 
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Celtic | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | 
|  Everton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 
|  Villarreal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 
|  Sunderland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | 
| 25 November 2014 | Everton  | 1–1 |  Celtic | Everton | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Duffus  80' | Report | Twardzik  26' | Stadium: Goodison Park Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis | 
| 12 December 2014 | Sunderland  | 0–0 |  Villarreal | Sunderland | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 GMT | Report | Stadium: Stadium of Light | 
| 18 December 2014 | Sunderland  | 1–2 |  Celtic | Sunderland | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferguson  17' | Report | Griffiths  51', 80' | Stadium: Stadium of Light | 
| 21 January 2015 | Celtic  | 1–0 |  Villarreal | Dartford | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McMullan  45' | Report | Stadium: Princes Park | 
| 11 February 2015 | Everton  | 1–2 |  Villarreal | Everton | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henen  55' | Report | Pedraza  3' Sol  75' | Stadium: Goodison Park | 
| 5 March 2015 | Everton  | 1–0 |  Sunderland | |
| Distin  39' | Report | 
Knock-out stages
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| C |  Leicester City | 2 (4) | ||||||||||||
| D |  Everton | 2 (3) | ||||||||||||
| C |  Leicester City | 2 | ||||||||||||
| C |  Manchester City (aet) | 3 | ||||||||||||
| C |  Manchester City | 0 (5) | ||||||||||||
| D |  Celtic | 0 (3) | ||||||||||||
| C |  Manchester City | 1 | ||||||||||||
| A |  Porto | 0 | ||||||||||||
| A |  Chelsea | 3 | ||||||||||||
| B |  Fulham | 4 | ||||||||||||
| B |  Fulham | 0 | ||||||||||||
| A |  Porto | 3 | ||||||||||||
| B |  Athletic Bilbao | 2 | ||||||||||||
| A |  Porto | 3 | ||||||||||||
Host team listed first
Bold winner
Quarter-finals
| 19 February 2015 | Chelsea  | 3–4 |  Fulham | |
| Baker  13' (pen.) Houghton  33' Suljić  53' | Report | Dembélé  2' Roberts  14' Suljić  67' (o.g.) Taggart  82' | 
| 8 April 2015 | Athletic Bilbao  | 2–3 |  Porto | Romford | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| García  88', 90+4' (pen.) | Report | Anderson  37' Frédéric  52' Silva  55' | Stadium: Rush Green Stadium | 
| 16 April 2015 | Manchester City  | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p) |  Celtic | Manchester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 BST | Report | Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: 780 Referee: Peter Wright | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| Byrne  Barker  Angeliño  Pozo  Smith-Brown  |  ?  Chalmers  ?  Lindsay | 
| 16 April 2015 | Leicester City  | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) |  Everton | Leicester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panayiotou  20', 94' | Report | Long  10' Charsley  97' | Stadium: Belvoir Drive | |
| Penalties | ||||
| ?  ?  Stankevičius  Barmby  Moore  |  Ledson  Dowell  Walsh  Kenny  Browning | 
Semi-finals
| 30 April 2015 | Leicester City  | 2–3 (a.e.t.) |  Manchester City | |
| Panayiotou  33', 63' | Report | Iheanacho  57' Pozo  84' Garcia  107' | Referee: Rob Massey-Ellis | 
Final
| 8 May 2015 | Manchester City  | 1–0 |  Porto | Manchester | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 BST | Iheanacho  5' | Report | Stadium: Academy Stadium | 
Statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Harry Panayiotou | Leicester City | 6 | 
|  Leandro Silva | Porto | ||
| 3 |  Jorge García | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | 
| 4 |  Olivier Ntcham | Manchester City | 3 | 
|  Ange-Freddy Plumain | Fulham | ||
| 6 |  Brandon Barker | Manchester City | 2 | 
|  Benjamin Berg | Borussia Mönchengladbach | ||
|  Kieran Bywater | West Ham United | ||
|  Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | ||
|  Tom Hopper | Leicester City | ||
|  Kelechi Iheanacho | Manchester City | ||
|  Paul McCallum | West Ham United | ||
|  José Ángel Pozo | Manchester City | ||
|  Dominic Solanke | Chelsea | ||
| 15 | 55 players | N/A | 1 | 
Own goals
| Rank | Player | Club | Against | Own Goals | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Adel Gafaiti | Norwich City | Chelsea | 1 | 
|  Victor Lindelöf | Benfica | Leicester City | ||
|  Josh Pask | West Ham United | Athletic Bilbao | ||
|  Ali Suljić | Chelsea | Fulham | 
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Leonardo Fasan | Celtic | 2 | 
|  Angus Gunn | Manchester City | ||
| 3 |  Jesse Bertrams | PSV Eindhoven | 1 | 
|  Miguel Santos | Benfica | ||
|  Adam Smith | Leicester City | ||
|  Ben Hamer | Leicester City | ||
|  Russell Griffiths | Everton | ||
|  Declan Rudd | Norwich City | ||
|  Mitchell Beeney | Chelsea | ||
|  Vito Mannone | Sunderland | ||
|  Miguel Bañuz | Villarreal | ||
|  Ricardo Nunes | Villarreal | 
See also
- Premier League International Cup
- 2014–15 Professional U21 Development League
- 2014–15 UEFA Youth League
References
- 1 2 http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2014-15/oct/premier-league-international-cup-launched.html
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2716105/Premier-League-announce-new-European-cup-competition-U21-sides.html
- ↑ "Premier League International Cup Fixtures, results and tables". premierleague.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.