Manchester United u19s moved into the second round of the Rewe Junior Cup on Sunday.
United finished day 2 tied at the top of the group on 15 points but went through in third place on goal difference.
Round 2 began with match against Fortuna Dusseldorf, who proved to be a tricky opponent as they used the boards well to get the ball in the box and crash the net.
They used one such occasion to open the scoring when their keeper’s shot went wide but fell to another player to finish off from close range.
Dusseldorf were deploying a player keeper to stay high up the pitch and pin United back, but Louie Bradbury took advantage with a quick release in his own half after a turnover that rolled into an open net as the keeper tried to recover.
Dusseldorf regained the lead with a penalty after opening the space off the boards again to work a shot that was blocked by Yuel Helafu’s hand.
Jim Thwaites then tied it up with a shimmy and a low strike to earn a 2-2 draw against a very tough and smart opponent.
Next up, United took on Schalke where they would need a win to advance.
After falling behind, United scored a great team goal with quick one touch passing that culminated with a finish from Bradbury.
But the German side’s class shown through as they responded with four unanswered goals including a hat-trick from Luca Vozar.
The final result of 1-5 saw United disappointingly exit from the tournament but proved a good experience for the youngsters to come up against German sides who are more experienced in indoor 5-a-side football.
Fortuna Dusseldorf went on to lift the cup with a 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the final, having drawn with United earlier in the day.
United’s top scorers for the weekend were Bradbury with 10, Thwaites with 6, and Dante Plunkett impressed with 4 goals as well.
United squad: 1 Byrne-Hughes, 2 Kamason (C), 3 Mills, 4 Helafu, 5 Plunkett, 6 McCormack, 7 Brown, 8 Shah, 9 Bradbury, 10 Thwaites
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
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.
