United U21s advance to PL2 finals: Man City U21s 3-4 Man United U21s
United U21s advance to PL2 finals: Man City U21s 3-4 Man United U21s Manchester United Under-21s took on arch-rivals Manchester City Under-21s in the Premier League 2 playoff semi-finals on Friday night. The match was played at the Joie Stadium, a ground which has recently been the subject of controversy as the FA Youth Cup final will also be held there next week, despite it being customary to play such matches at a club’s main stadium. This issue extended to this match, as Premier League 2 rules suggest that semi-finals and finals should also be played at a club’s main stadium.
However, once on the pitch, the football did the talking, with an exciting end-to-end 90 minutes of play. First half The home side started the stronger of the two, taking the lead in just the third minute. Reigan Heskey played the ball in behind Sonny Aljofree for Floyd Samba to run into the box and finish high into the net past Will Murdock.
Murdock was busy in the opening exchanges, making a big save to deny Samba his second of the match 10 minutes later. City somehow squandered the chance to double their lead when Mahamadou Sangare directed his effort off target from just a couple of yards out. Summer signing and former United target Sverre Nypan was then played through on goal, but the Norwegian international placed his shot wide of the right post.
A combination of poor finishing and great goalkeeping from Murdock kept United in the match until the 29th minute, when United drew level at 1-1 through Chido Obi. There was some confusion at the back for City, which allowed Jaydan Kamason to snatch the loose ball and cross deep to Victor Musa, who intelligently headed back across to Obi to head in from close range. Five minutes later, Obi headed home again to make it 1-2.
This time, Dan Armer’s switching ball set Shea Lacey free down the right wing before his cross found Obi inside the six-yard box. The match had been completely turned on its head after City’s early dominance. United had begun to cut through City in attack and did so again in the 42nd minute, when Victor Musa was dragged down inside the area to win his side a penalty.