16 year old attacker shows he is physically ready against senior opposition for United u21s

Manchester United u21s lack of goals continued this evening as they crashed out of the National League Cup with a 3-0 loss to Sutton United despite having opportunities.

Here are our player ratings for the match. Read the detailed match report of all the action here.

(A score of 6 is around average)

Will Murdock – 5 – Uneasy on the ball in possession with a few questionable passes and made a poor decision for the third goal, where he half committed which took him out of the play and stopped Fredricson from making an easy pass back.

Habeeb Ogunneye – 6 – Did well with his 1v1 defending for the most part and was strong in possession to hold off challenges and retain possession without offering a great deal in attack.

Tyler Fredricson – 6.5 – The best of the defenders, he cleared most of the balls into the box and found joy with long passes into the right channel, picking out Ibragimov on a number of occasions. Could have cleared his lines better for the third goal but was let down by Murdock’s positioning.

Godwill Kukonki – 4.5 – A fairly poor display, there were a number of moments in the first half he looked shaky in possession and made poor choices on when to come out for the ball. This left a lot of space in behind that fortunately Murray and Fredricson were able to recover for. Should have done better with his attempt to block the cross on the second goal. Did make one good forward pass to put Moorhouse through in the first half.

Sam Murray – 6.5 – Covered a lot of ground down the left wing, getting forward and delivering some dangerous balls into the box and also defended well, particularly getting back inside to provide cover for the centre backs.

Finley McAllister – 6.5 – Did well playing almost as a centre back at times, he dropped very deep and dictated the play on the ball with sharp passes into the midfield and helped mop up defensively before unfortunately going off injured.

Sekou Kone – 6 – A quiet first half, with four central midfielders on the pitch he found himself boxed out a bit and struggled to get involved in a more right sided midfield role. After McAllister went off injured, he found more space and had some neat first touches to open the play and evade pressure.

Tommy Rowe – 6 – Offered composure in the midfield and was very reliable for the most part but could have cleared better for the third goal. Had a couple of chances to get his name on the scoresheet but sent his efforts just wide.

Jim Thwaites – 5.5 – A nervous first half, he lost possession with a few heavy touches early on. Improved in the second half when he pushed forward more often to support Ibragimov. This saw him get on the end of two good chances, but he left his shooting boots at home with two fairly poor attempts.

Jack Moorhouse – 6.5 – Caused havoc when he got the ball on the turn and ran at the Sutton backline but it felt like he drifted out of the match when he wasn’t getting to run with the ball. Had a big chance in the first half but went for power and shot straight at the keeper.

Amir Ibragimov – 7 – United’s best player. He faced an uphill challenge from the start, often finding himself isolated up top, but he did very well to make the most of it with relentless running and put himself about to win the ball and hold up play. Came close to scoring the goal of the season when he ran from his own half to hit the post from 30 yards and arguably should have won a penalty when he was pushed down while driving into the box.

Substitutes

Samuel Lusale – 5.5 – Received the ball in space a few times but failed to do much with it and occupied the space that Ibragimov was previously causing a lot of danger in.

Albert Mills – 6 – Was introduced with the score already 3-0 and the tempo taken out of the match so wasn’t threatened much but did make a good tackle on the byline late on.

Dante Plunkett – 5.5 – Came on in a more advanced winger role but didn’t really make any impact.

Feature image Ben Roberts Photo via Getty Images

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