Academy Match Report: Manchester United u21s 2-1 Manchester City u21s | OneFootball

Manchester United u21s hosted cross town rivals Manchester City at Leigh Sports Village on Monday night.

The mini derby was yet another u21s fixture that was untelevised due to Premier League restrictions that have left supporters virtually unable to follow United’s next group of stars.

Ethan Williams started the action with an early tester to force a save from True Grant, the son of former United keeper Lee Grant.

Williams then turned provider in the 35th minute to set up Ethan Wheatley for the game’s opener. After Toby Collyer won possession in midfield, Williams chipped a ball across to Wheatley to strike past Grant and give United the lead.

Nearing the half time break, City were controlling much of the possession but were unable to keep their shots on target to test Dermot Mee in the United goal.

Into the second half, it took less than 10 minutes for an experienced face in Tom Huddlestone to double United’s lead.

Williams’ ever-dangerous corner deliveries caused trouble again, as City could only clear it out to the lurking Huddlestone, who drilled home one of his patented goals.

Shortly after, City pulled one back through substitute Stephen Mfuni. A curling effort deflected off a United defender before looping over Mee to make it 2-1.

In the latter stages of the match, the rivalry began to boil over, with an off the ball scuffle that resulted in Sam Mather seeing a straight red card in the 79th minute.

With a lengthy injury time, United had over 20 minutes to hold onto their lead, which they managed to do despite City throwing the kitchen sink at it.

The win sees United move up to 10th place in the league, firmly within the play-off positions.

United: Mee, Ogunneye, Aljofree, Kambwala, Murray, Huddlestone, Collyer, Williams (Nolan 82), Scanlon (Jackson 90+1), Mather, Wheatley (McNeill 73).

Unused subs: Myles, Amass