Under-21s: Manchester United 3 Everton 1
Quote:
Barclays Under-21 Premier League
Monday 21 September, 19:00 BST
MANCHESTER UNITED 3
(Weir 66, Wilson 22, Lingard 52)
EVERTON 1
(Dyson 75)
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Manchester United Under-21s comfortably overcame Everton 3-1 at Leigh Sports Village with James Weir, James Wilson and Jesse Lingard all on the scoresheet in front of the MUTV cameras.
Sam Johnstone, Lingard and Wilson were handed their first competitive outings for Warren Joyce's side this term and responded with positive performances. Skipper Lingard made a dangerous run to latch onto Sean Goss's fine sixth-minute through ball but could only loft his finish over the bar.
After Wilson was unable to convert an Axel Tuanzebe cross, the striker made an expert touch during a one-two with Weir to allow the blond-haired midfielder to advance and clinically finish past Mateusz Hewelt. Although Johnstone made a routine stop from Callum Connelly, the lead was soon doubled when Josh Harrop performed a crunching tackle on Liam Walsh in midfield. Wilson collected and drove forwards, ignoring the shout of Lingard to slam a trademark finish wide of Hewelt.
Calum Dyson fired well wide after a nice turn but it was a rare opening for the Toffees. At the other end, Hewelt dived to frustrate Harrop following a mazy dribble by the midfield man and Lingard screwed off target following good work by Goss.
Johnstone was forced into making a smart stop as half-time approached when David Henen met Dyson's cross with a goalbound header as the keeper showed off his credentials. In the second half, Harrop scooped over after initially displaying a neat touch to get a Cameron Borthwick-Jackson pass out of his feet before the left-back was involved in the third goal.
Borthwick-Jackson's ball inside went past Weir but was pounced upon by Lingard, who left Ryan Ledson for dead and swept a clever finish into the corner of the net to maintain an impressive scoring record against the Merseysiders. Lingard had a carbon-copy shot kept out by Hewelt from a Goss pass as United hunted more goals.