Manchester United Under-21s continued their pre-season preparations on Friday night against National League side Altrincham.
Altrincham’s J Davidson Stadium is familiar territory for United, as the ground has previously been used by United to host Under-21 fixtures.
Having started pre-season with a pair of friendlies in Germany, United defeated Burnley Under-21s last week in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
Adam Lawrence’s squad was bolstered last night when Jacob Devaney, Chido Obi, Dan Gore, Toby Collyer and Ethan Wheatley dropped down after featuring in the first team’s previous pre-season matches.
It was also the first opportunity to see new signings Cristian Orozco and Enzo Kana-Biyik, as both made their United debuts on the night.
First half
United were the more dangerous of the two sides in the opening exchanges. Chido Obi forced a big save from Owen Evans early on, before the Altrincham keeper also denied Diego Leon’s long-range effort.
Obi proved to be a handful in the opposition area and came close to opening the scoring when he controlled the ball in the box and struck towards the top corner, but Evans’ fingertip save pushed the ball over the crossbar.
It was largely one-way traffic throughout the first half in favour of United. Collyer and Jack Moorhouse then had efforts on goal but were unable to find the breakthrough.
Altrincham’s first chance fell kindly to former United academy player Aidan Barlow, who saw his effort cleared off the line by Louis Jackson.
Late in the half, against the run of play, the home side took the lead through Jimmy Knowles after he intercepted a wayward Diego Leon pass, ran through one-on-one against Will Murdock and slotted into the bottom right corner.
Second half
The second half saw a number of changes, including the introduction of Ashton Missin, who missed the entirety of last season due to injury. Missin looked to make an immediate impact with a teasing cross to the back post that ended up just out of reach of Kana-Biyik.
Murdock was called into action to stop a powerful header by Tom Crawford.
In his first appearance for United after signing last summer and then spending the season on loan, Kana-Biyik impressed the crowd with quick feet to open up space in the wide areas.
United chased an equaliser until the final whistle, but despite some half-chances falling the way of Wheatley and Amir Ibragimov, United were unable to find the net on the night.
Match facts
United: Murdock (Byrne-Hughes 63); Ogunneye (McAllister 63), Mills (McCormack 63), Jackson (Munro 73), Leon (Overy 63); Devaney (Orozco 63), Gore (C) (Fitzgerald 63); Musa (Missin 46 (Lusale 69)), Collyer (Ibragimov 63), Moorhouse (Kana-Biyik 46 (Biancheri 73)); Obi (Wheatley 46).
Feature image Richard Heathcote 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. You can follow him X: RedYouthUnited.
