After a dramatic win in the FA Youth Cup on Friday night, Manchester United’s U18s were back in league action on Monday as they hosted Middlesbrough at Carrington.
After a delayed start to the game, the match finally got underway but unfortunately was not viewable for supporters as the club decided not to broadcast the match.
It took the visitors until just the 12th minute to open the scoring through Daniel James.
Byrne-Hughes denied the Boro midfielder’s initial effort but the rebound fell kindly for James to finish on the second attempt.
Jim Thwaites almost levelled things but Boro keeper Ollie Lloyd went quickly down to his right to deny the midfielder.
It was largely one-way traffic throughout the first half but United couldn’t find the net as Amir Ibragimov saw his strike blocked on the line before Victor Musa’s header smashed off the woodwork.
United’s frustrations went on until Adam Lawrence looked to the bench to make four changes with James Scanlon, Gabriel Biancheri, Tyler Fletcher, and Godwill Kukonki being introduced.
Scanlon almost made an immediate impact, getting onto the end of Ibragimov’s cutback but his effort flew over the bar.
Tyler Fletcher then played a nice pass to Scanlon in space to drive forward before finishing past the keeper to draw the match level in the 71st minute.
Ten minutes later, the turnaround was completed when Ibragimov won a penalty after he was dragged down inside the area which was dispatched by Thwaites with a thunderbolt of a shot that gave the keeper no chance.
Scanlon rounded off the scoring with his second of the match and 16th of the season as United hit Boro on the counter attack.
United temporarily go top of the Premier League North table but have played an extra match compared to rivals Manchester City. Next up for United is third-placed Derby County on Saturday.
United: Byrne-Hughes, Overy (Kukonki 62), Ngwashi, Mills, Plunkett, Devaney (Fletcher 62), Bailey, Thwaites, Lusale (Scanlon 62), Musa (Biancheri 62), Ibragimov
Unused subs: Heath
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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.
