Manchester United U18s travelled to take on third-place Derby County for a noon kick-off on Saturday.
With no U21 matches this week, Adam Lawrence was able to field a strong side but it was the home side who started stronger and took an early lead.
Some initial good play on the right wing earned Derby a free-kick in the corner which was expertly taken. It smashed off the crossbar before Dantel Hodges provided the finish on the second attempt with a nicely executed volley.
United soon equalised in the 9th minute, Jim Thwaites delivered one of his patented free kicks into the box which found the head of Dan Armer at the back post, who drew the match level.
It was a tight match with United finding some joy out on the wings but the final delivery was missing to trouble Derby’s goal.
Derby retook the lead just before the half-hour mark, an unfortunate break of the ball after Jacob Devaney won the tackle in midfield saw Justin Oguntolu run through and finish over Will Murdock to make it 2-1 going into the break.
In the second half, Derby came close to extending their lead with an early long-range effort. On a windy day, the ball was dipping and swerving as it approached the goal but Murdock did well to adjust and get his finger tips onto the ball.
Lawrence looked to the bench on the hour mark and introduced Victor Musa and Amir Ibragimov.
The latter made an instant impact, with Ibragimov driving into the box, going past one defender before being tripped up by the next to earn a penalty for his side.
Normally clinical from the spot, Thwaites was denied by a top save with the goalie pushing his effort, which was towards the bottom right corner, wide.
United didn’t have to wait long to find the equaliser though, as minutes later Ibragimov found the space to drive at the heart of Derby again before laying off to Tyler Fletcher who dinked a delicate ball into the box with the outside of his boot to be headed home by Gabriele Biancheri.
Ibragimov then picked out Thwaites on the right who cut back to Victor Musa in the box but his effort was stopped.
Jaydan Kamason’s runs forward from the back finally paid off late on when his cross was blocked but fell towards Biancheri who was fouled as he went to collect to earn United a second penalty.
This time James Scanlon stepped up to notch his 17th goal of the season and earn United an important three points as they retain the top spot in the league above Manchester City who trail by one point but with a game in hand.
United: Murdock, Kamason, Munro, Armer, Kukonki, T. Fletcher, Devaney (Ibragimov 62), Mantato (Musa 62), Thwaites, Scanlon, Biancheri
Unused subs: Byrne-Hughes, Lusale, Plunkett
Feature image Ben Roberts via Getty Images
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Colm Murphy
A football obsessed Canadian who moved to England to enjoy the beautiful game. Colm has been keen follower of Manchester United’s famed academy since seeing a fresh faced Adnan Januzaj for the club’s u18s and has been writing about football with a focus on youth development for over 10 years.
