Manchester United u21s travelled to Reading on Friday night where they got a rare chance to play in a first team stadium, the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
United were gifted a perfect start to the match when Louis Jackson’s long clearance after Reading’s corner was collected by keeper Tom Norcott, but indecision allowed Sam Mather to close him down and steal the ball before finishing into an empty net.
It was United’s turn for a couple of sloppy bits of play in possession but fortunately the home side were unable to capitalise on the openings.
Gabriele Biancheri doubled the lead late in the half when United countered from another Reading corner.
Bendito Mantato won possession on the edge of the box and launched the move just moments after being introduced for an injured Habeeb Ogunneye, and the move ended with Mather slipping the ball through to Biancheri on the right to finish low into the far corner.
Into the second half, Biancheri added his second of the match from close range.
A beautiful flick from player-coach Tommy Rowe sent Mather down the left wing. He cut it back to James Scanlon, who had his effort saved before Mather collected again to square to Biancheri for an easy finish.
Reading’s best chance of the match came in the 70th minute when they played the ball into the box, but a fantastic block from Rowe kept them out. United then immediately countered with Biancheri forcing a save from a wide angle on the left.
Three minutes later, Reading did pull one back through Emmanuel Osho, whose shot deflected off Tyler Fredricson to beat Elyh Harrison in goal.
Despite conceding, Harrison put in a great performance, including a pinpoint pass down the right channel for Mantato to run onto into the box. Unfortunately for him, a poor touch saw the chance go begging.
Scanlon ultimately rounded out the scoring in the 90th minute with a speculative long range effort that also took a heavy deflection to catch Norcott wrong-footed and give United the 1-4 victory.
United complete their Premier League 2 regular season on Monday with a trip to Wolves before they start the play-offs, which they have already secured qualification to.
United: Harrison, Ogunneye (Mantato 38), Jackson (Munro 69), Fredricson (c), Murray, Kone, Rowe, T.Fletcher (Ibragimov 84), Scanlon, Biancheri, Mather (Ajayi 84)
Unused subs: Graczyk
Featured image Lewis Storey 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.
