Manchester United u18s travelled to the Nottingham Forest training ground for a lunch time kick-off on Saturday.
Coming off the back of an extraordinary 13-1 win over Leeds United last week, Adam Lawrence’s side would have had a lot to live up to match the standards.
In fact, the opening 45 minutes were the complete opposite this time out, with little threat on either goal.
United controlled much of the possession in the first half but a late header from Victor Musa was the only time Nottingham Forest keeper Alastair Graham was called into question.
Lawrence fired the young Reds up at half time though as they came out firing in the second half.
Early attempts fell for Zach Baumann and Musa, the latter of which forced another save from Graham.
The deadlock was eventually broken in the 61st minute when Amir Ibragimov slotted his effort into the bottom left corner from inside the area.
The floodgates then opened as James Overy doubled the lead shortly after, finding the same corner as Ibragimov, to score his first goal the club after signing in the summer.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the match wasn’t a goal, but rather the return of Shea Lacey who came off the bench for the final 16 minutes.
Considered one of the top talents at the club, Lacey has been limited to just two starts so far this season and today featured for the first time since February.
The silky trickster put his skills to use right away to seal the win by setting up James Bailey in stoppage time to make it 0-3.
It was also a special occasion for u16s Noah Ajayi, who also came off the bench to make his u18s debut less than 24 hours after also making his u21s debut on Friday night.
The win leaves United in second place, trailing rivals Manchester City by two points with four matches remaining.
Next up for the young Reds is a home tie with the tricky Derby County, who are currently in fourth place.
United: Murdock, Overy, Ngwashi (Mills 70), Armer, Plunkett, Devaney, Baumann (Bailey 73), Lusale (Ajayi 84), Ibragimov (Lacey 74), Thwaites, Musa
Unused subs: Byrne-Hughes
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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.
