Manchester United u18s hosted Chelsea in the round of 16 of the illustrious FA Youth Cup on Wednesday night at Leigh Sports Village.
A rematch of last season’s Premier League u18s National Final, United were looking for a repeat of the 1-2 win that saw them lift the title last season.
After dropping points in their last two fixtures for the first time this season, Adam Lawrence could have understandably approached such a big fixture cautiously but instead United pressed on the front foot from the opening whistle.
Chelsea were pinned back from the off as United came close to taking an early lead on several occasions, the closest of which was James Scanlon’s poke towards goal that was saved off the line after Jack Fletcher had hit the crossbar in the 17th minute.
Completely against the run of play, Chelsea were the ones to open the scoring in the 21st minute. A push in the back of Gabriele Biancheri which looked to be a foul wasn’t called and allowed Chelsea to counter attack quickly which was finished off by Reggie Walsh with a powerful strike past Will Murdock.
United only trailed for four minutes though before Chido Obi levelled the scoring. A lovely ball was clipped over the top by Jaydan Kamason for Obi to run onto, holding off his marker before slotting past the keeper.
Obi looked to turn provider when he played to Gabriele Biancheri overlapping on the left but the Welsh forward’s strike flied past the wrong side of the post.
United deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute with Kamason providing the impetus in attack again, as he did throughout the first half. Kamason charged down the right wing, shrugging off Ryan Kavuma-McQueen before slowing down to play the perfect chipped pass into the box for Scanlon to finish off with a diving header.
Scanlon notched his second minutes later to make it 3-1. Jack Fletcher’s high lofted ball over the top was latched onto by Scanlon to run through and finish low under pressure of the recovering Calvin Diakite.
Into the second half, Chelsea looked to respond early but Will Murdock came up with a game changing save to deny Kiano Dyer from just five yards out.
Very close to being 3-2 one moment, United went the other end and put the match out of reach in the 50th minute. Biancheri pressed high up to win possession before cutting back for Obi to finish inside the box.
Obi sealed his hat-trick when Jack Fletcher’s free kick was delivered into the box but couldn’t be cleared by the Chelsea defenders allowing Obi to pounce and make it 5-1.
Watch Obi’s hat-trick on the club’s official website, click here for video.
The convincing win sends United into the quarter-finals where they will face Arsenal, a match which will cause extra excitement following Obi’s arrival from the London club in the summer.
United: Murdock, Kamason, Munro, Armer, Amass, Devaney (c) (Thwaites 79), T. Fletcher, Scanlon (Ibragimov 79), J. Fletcher (Fitzgerald 74), Biancheri (Musa 62), Obi (Lacey 82)
Unused subs: Byrne-Hughes, Kukonki
Featured image Lewis Storey 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.
