Newcastle United Under-18s 2 Manchester United Under-18s 0
Newcastle United Under-18s 2 Manchester United Under-18s 0 The Toon teenagers scored twice inside the opening half-hour at the Magpies' Little Benton Academy courtesy of strikes from Rory Finneran and Kacey Wooster, the latter netting his 10th league goal of the season at under-18 level. Newcastle's youngsters recorded a clean sheet against their Red Devils counterparts, restricting the visitors to two shots on target, to record a fourth successive home win after victories against Sunderland, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers. In the 11th minute, Newcastle took the lead through Finneran as the central midfielder, who has captained Republic of Ireland at under-19 level, controlled an attempted clearance on the edge of the box before rifling a low effort into the bottom left-hand corner.
In the 27th minute, the young Magpies extended their advantage through Wooster as the 18-year-old striker, who joined Newcastle from Southend United in the summer of 2023, pounced a loose pass and after advancing past a pair of Man United defenders, fired a low effort from the edge of the penalty area into the left-hand corner. Michael Mills, a representative of England at under-17 level, looked to have added gloss to the scoreline in the second-half after volleying home from close-range but the Manchester-born forward's effort was disallowed after straying into an offside position. Muawiya Ghanem, who scored on his full debut for United's under-18s in last week's 2-1 win against Wolves, went close to netting in successive matches as the 15-year-old substitute's curling effort flew narrowly wide of the right-hand post in the closing stages.
Chris Moore's side will confirm a third-place finish should they beat Leeds United on Tuesday afternoon [kick-off 12pm BST]. Newcastle United Under-18s: Roman Dowell, Henry Johnson (c), Luke Gilligan, Aaron Epia, Thomas Old (Matthew Taylor 64), Rory Finneran, Michael Mills (Muawiya Ghanem 78), Mason Miley, Kacey Wooster, Jayden Kouossu (Jack Callaghan 78), Alfie Seldon (Leon Mukumbira 85). Subs not used: Oliver Holland.