Manchester United U18s reached the FA Youth Cup quarterfinals with a commanding 5-1 win over arch-rivals Chelsea at the Leigh Sports Village on Wednesday.
Chido Obi was on fire as the 17-year-old netted a hat-trick while James Scanlon grabbed a brace with the young Reds running away with the game.
The Dane has been a revelation since his summer move from the Gunners, netting 12 goals in as many games including seven strikes in three FA Youth Cup games.
His red-hot form has seen United fans crying out for Ruben Amorim to hand him some minutes for the first team amid the club’s barren spell in front of goal.
U18 manager Adam Lawrence was asked about the 17-year-old hitman after his heroics against the Blues and he called the young Dane a “natural goalscorer” while also complementing his overall gameplay.
Chido Obi earns praise
“Obviously, Chido’s a natural goalscorer. He wants to score goals and get himself into those positions, but I was really pleased with him just in terms of his link-up play,”Lawrence told MUTV.
“Not just stretching and running in behind but recognising when to show into feet, how to use his body to shield the ball and when to bring others into play.”
Amorim has already ruled out rushing Chido Obi into first team action but if he keeps this level up, the Portuguese will have little choice but to look in his direction given the struggles of Rasmus Hojlund.
The U18’s boss also praised the team effort on display and said that the players were looking forward to their blockbuster tie against the Gunners in the next round.
“It was a really good night for both of the goalscorers (Obi-Martin and Scanlon). I thought the two of them had really good performances on the whole aside from the goals. It was a real team effort. When you come into these games, there’s always some apprehension — you know it’s about how you deal with it on the night, how you perform.
U18s on fire
“Overall, I think you’d have to say we deserved the result and the victory. Like any tournament, you’ve got to take each game as it comes and there’ll be different challenges within them. We’ve obviously overcome that tonight. We have a lot of respect for Chelsea as an academy. We know they have some really good individuals and a good squad.
“We’ve had a couple of really good games with them of late. When you get to this stage, there’s going to be different questions posed of the group but we rose to that. Every youth player remembers their Youth Cup experiences.
“We can’t have it as the only benchmark for the players in terms of their youth team journey but it can give the players some special memories. Knowing it was Arsenal away in the next round — hopefully to be played at the Emirates — was a nice carrot for us today. That’ll be something we’ll look forward to and something for the boys to remember.”
The win has set-up a mouthwatering last-eight clash against Arsenal with Chido Obi set to return to his former home.
Feature image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
