Manchester United U18s suffer late drama against Manchester City in league opener
· Yahoo Sports
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Manchester United U18s opened their league campaign on Saturday morning by hosting rivals Manchester City at Carrington.
The two Manchester clubs have been title rivals in recent seasons, making up the top two of the Premier League North for the past three seasons in a row.
With a fresh squad at his disposal, including 15 new first-year scholars, Darren Fletcher turned to three of them to start the match: Jaume Camacho, Camron Mpofu, and Manu Ziro.
First half
The first chance of the match came the way of the visitors from a corner. Archie Thornton’s volley was punched off the goal line by a sprawling Charlie Hardy amidst a congested six-yard box.
Up the other end, Ben Vickery produced a similarly impressive save to keep out Camacho. Ziro initially provided a bit of skill on the right wing to twist inside and out before cutting back to Camacho, who was denied just eight yards out.
Jayden Ngwashi made a goal-saving intervention when he slid in to block a cross that was waiting to be tapped in at the back post.
United then conceded a free-kick at the edge of the box when attempting to clear. Finlay Gorman went for power on the dead ball that looked like it was headed for the top left corner before Hardy’s save at full stretch.
The two sides exchanged blows throughout the half, as Junior Brown then forced a save before Mpofu found the back of the net, but the offside flag was quickly up to rule it out.
Second half
Still deadlocked going into the second half, the young Red Devils looked to take the upper hand after the restart with a flurry of chances.
Camacho and Ziro were both teed up inside the area, but the former’s tame strike was easily saved before the latter scooped his effort over the bar from close range.
Carving open the opposition but unable to provide the finish ended up being the story of the day for United, as further chances came and went for Brown, Ziro, and Mpofu.
Against the run of play, City hit on the counter to take a 1-0 lead in the 66th minute. Breaking down the right wing, a low cross was guided home by Teddie Lamb with a sliding finish.
Chasing a late equaliser, United sent everyone forward and thought they had the goal when Camacho found Brown at the back post, but Vickery flew across the goal line to produce a world-class save and deny United a point on the day.
It was a disappointing result, as United start the season off with a loss despite a promising performance. Fletcher’s team now turn their focus to the Premier League Cup on Tuesday, when they host Charlton Athletic.
Match facts
United: Hardy, Helafu, McCormack (c), Ngwashi (Laurie 75), J. Watson (Carrick 75), McEvoy (McLaughlin 84), Shah, Ziro (De Jonge-Seiros 67), Camacho-Sidos, Brown, Mpofu (Bradbury 75) Unused subs: Z. Watson (GK), Emsden-James