U18s match summary: United 3 Everton 0

Saturday 09 November 2024 13:13

Manchester United made it nine wins from as many U18 Premier League games this season with a 3-0 victory over Everton at Carrington.

Adam Lawrence’s young Reds won 8-0 at Leeds last weekend and nearly picked up where we left off in the competition, when Chido Obi-Martin had a shot blocked on the line inside the opening four minutes, after a scything run down the right flank from Bendito Mantato.

United were unlucky on that occasion but did make the breakthrough just over 60 seconds later, when a flowing back-to-front move was swept home by the left boot of Obi-Martin, who had been slipped in by James Scanlon’s incisive outside-of-the-foot pass.

Amir Ibragimov, Obi-Martin and Scanlon all went close to extending our advantage in what was an entertaining first half, that also included a share of scoring opportunities for the visitors.

Everton’s best chance before the break came following a well-worked short corner, at which Braiden Graham slalomed his way through several United bodies before producing a close-range shot which needed the save from Will Murdock.

Lawrence: We got the desired performance Video

Lawrence: We got the desired performance

U18s head coach Adam Lawrence is pleased with the way his young side dealt with the challenges Everton posed today…

At the same end of the Carrington pitch, United were only the woodwork away from making it 2-0 shortly after the break, when Obi-Martin headed Jim Thwaites’s corner from the left onto the far post.

Toffees goalkeeper Douglas Lukjanciks then made an impressive acrobatic stop to deny a curling effort from Scanlon, but the visitors’ second-half resistance was broken when Thwaites whipped a free-kick into the net from the edge of the penalty area, in the 54th minute.

The young Reds had the majority of the chances following the interval – even if Justin Clarke threatened to pull one back for Everton with a header that drifted narrowly wide – and completed the scoring through a left-footed strike from Mantato in the stoppage time.

Victory over the Merseysiders continues our perfect start to the U18 Premier League North campaign, with a League Cup tie at home to Leeds next up for our Under-18s, in a fortnight’s time (23 November, 11:00 GMT).

MATCH DETAILS

United: Murdock; Munro (c), Mills, Armer, Kukonki; Thwaites, T.Fletcher (Devaney 71); Mantato, Ibragimov (Bailey 76), Scanlon (Lusale 63); Obi-Martin (Biancheri 71).

Unused sub: Byrne-Hughes.

Goals: Obi-Martin 6, Thwaites 54, Mantato 90+2.

U18s match summary: United 3 Everton 0