Academy Match Report: Manchester United u18s 1-3 Sunderland u18s | OneFootball

Manchester United u18s hosted Sunderland at Carrington on Saturday afternoon.

Having clinched the title last week with a win over Wolves, Adam Lawrence fielded a heavily rotated side with a number of u16s stepping up to the level.

It was an eventful start to the match. With less than a minute played, Malachi Sharpe raced down the right wing towards the byline before cutting back to Bendito Mantato to open the scoring with an easy finish.

The lead didn’t last long though as just a minute later as Sunderland created an almost carbon copy of the opening goal. Rhys Walsh ran down the left side and played the ball into Aaron Chung in the centre of the box to finish past Will Murdock in goal.

United dominated possession throughout the first half but were unable to add to their tally despite chances from Gabriele Biancheri, Sharpe, and Jim Thwaites all coming close.

Into the second half, Chung gave the visitors the lead in the 56th minute when he ran through the heart of midfield before dispatching into the net.

Less than 10 minutes later, Sunderland added their third when Fin Geragusian picked up the ball on the left wing and centred to Joseph Neild to apply the first time finish.

United threw a flurry of attacks at Sunderland to get back into it but it wasn’t until almost the 90th minute that they managed to carve open a big chance for Sharpe to come close with. Receiving the ball inside the box following some intricate passing, the winger’s shot was tipped just wide by the Sunderland keeper.

Into injury time, the ball fell kindly to Biancheri who thought he could poke it in, but his effort was cleared off the line by some fantastic last-ditch defending.

Lawrence’s side finish the Premier League North campaign next week at home to Everton before they round out the season with the national final, which is yet to have a scheduled date.

United: Murdock, Nolan, Mills, Armer, Plunkett (Kukonki 82), Baumann, J.Fletcher, Sharpe, Thwaites, Mantato, Biancheri

Unused subs: Myles, Kingdon, McAllister, Barbosa

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