JJ Gabriel scores 24th goal of the campaign to send United’s U18s top of the league above rivals

Manchester United Under-18s travelled to take on Leeds United Under-18s at Thorp Arch training ground on Saturday morning. The home side included former United academy player Edward Ibrovic-Fletcher, who led the line for Leeds on the day. First half The two sides exchanged early blows, with Noah Ajayi stinging the hands of Leeds keeper George Kenyon before Cameron Byrne-Hughes pushed away Carrick Njinko’s free-kick attempt. Louie Bradbury came the closest to opening the scoring in the first half when his side-footed attempt was cleared off the line after he was teed up by Ajayi. Bradbury was on the prowl a minute later when Dante Plunkett’s long ball over the top was completely misjudged by Kenyon, who ran straight underneath it, but the ball was cleared by the recovering defender before Bradbury could pounce. Towards the end of the half, Jacob Watson carved open the Leeds backline with a threaded pass to play JJ Gabriel into the box, but the United number ten lifted his effort over the bar. Second half After a lengthy half-time, United were left on the pitch waiting for Leeds to return, but the mind games did not work for the home side. United took the lead four minutes after the restart through Jay McEvoy. Yuel Helafu played the ball inside to McEvoy, who opened his body onto his weaker left foot and sent a dipping shot into the bottom left corner from over 20 yards out. Ajayi was a constant threat throughout the match and took a rocket of a shot that was tipped wide of the post—or so the referee thought, as a corner was given. However, the replay appeared to show the ball flying through a hole in the net in the top left corner. Five minutes later, Ajayi played provider, crossing deep for Junior Brown to head off the post. Leeds were still in the match, though, and threatened a couple of times, with Ibrovic-Fletcher thinking he was set to score an easy tap-in before Helafu cleared at the back post. Despite the pressure from Leeds, United sealed the victory with a late goal from JJ Gabriel, who converted the rebound from his own penalty miss. Darren Fletcher’s side go top of the Under-18 Premier League North by three points but have played two more matches than rivals Manchester City. Attention now turns away from the league as the young Red Devils play at Old Trafford on Friday against Crystal Palace in the FA Youth Cup semi-final. Match facts United: Byrne-Hughes, Helafu, Mills, Watson, Plunkett (Overy 55), McEvoy; Brown (Emsden-James 85), Shah (Thwaites 60), Gabriel, Ajayi, Bradbury (D. Nkoto 60) Unused subs: Heath Goals: McEvoy 49, Gabriel 85 Featured image Michael Steele via Getty images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. 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. You can follow him X: RedYouthUnited.