Manchester United u21s hosted Aston Villa at Carrington in Premier League 2 action on Saturday morning.
Following the cancellation of last week’s encounter with Leeds United, the match was the first of 2025 for Travis Binnion’s side.
Unfortunately for the keen followers of United’s u21s, the match was played behind closed doors at Carrington with no spectators allowed and wasn’t broadcast due to Premier League restrictions.
In what was a tightly contested match, the first chance of the game fell to Ethan Wheatley who was denied by a good save from Lander Emery.
George Hemmings came close for the Villans when he robbed possession high up the pitch but couldn’t direct his shot on target to trouble Elyh Harrison in the United goal.
United took the lead in the 24th minute through Sam Mather who curled a superb free kick towards the top left corner which hit off the post before going in.
The score line held until the half time break despite some further tests from Aston Villa.
Just seven minutes after the restart, Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba broke in behind before firing across goal for 16 year old Bradley Burrowes to slide in at the back post.
The young reds responded though when Wheatley was brought down by the outrushing Emery to earn a penalty which was duly dispatched by Mather straight down the middle of the goal for his second of the match.
Villa threatened until the final whistle to equalise but United’s backline held firm to secure the three points and make it three wins in a row in the league.
United now turn their attention to Tuesday night when they will host FC Nordsjælland u21s in the Premier League International Cup for their final group stage match.
United: Harrison; Ogunneye, Fredricson, Kukonki (Jackson 79), Murray; Gore (c), Kone (McAllister 79); Sharpe, Moorhouse (Missin 66), Mather (Curley 66); Wheatley
Unused subs: Wooster
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.
