UNDER-19S: CSKA MOSCOW 1 UNITED 2
UEFA Youth League | Oktyabr Stadium, Moscow | Scorers: Merenchukov 90+1 | Barlow 8, Gomes 38
Manchester United Under-19s maintained a winning start in Europe on Wednesday afternoon, overcoming a less-than-perfect pitch to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and make it two victories from two games in the UEFA Youth League.
Aidan Barlow and Angel Gomes, two of the Reds' scorers in the opening 4-3 win over FC Basel a fortnight ago, both found the net again but, this time, their team-mate at the other end, goalkeeper Ilias Moutha-Sebtaoui, had much less to do behind a defence well-marshalled by captain Tyrell Warren, until CSKA pulled one back late on.
Both of United's strikes came in the first half, with Barlow providing the breakthrough in the eighth minute, shortly after Gomes had gone agonisingly close to doing the same.
Gomes, whose place in the England Under-17 World Cup squad was confirmed this week, arced a glorious shot against the crossbar after Tom Sang’s floated ball forward from midfield was laid into his path by striker Joshua Bohui. The rattled woodwork was a warning for the hosts that United were up for the task in hand from the first whistle, a warning they failed to heed when Indy Boonen found Barlow inside the box. The latter controlled the pass on his chest before beating Nikolai Zirikov with a crisp finish.
Barlow almost grabbed a second goal when he clipped a shot just wide of the far post but United still only had to wait until the 38th minute to make it 2-0. By then, Moutha-Sebtaoui had been asked to do a brave bit of smothering inside the six-yard box, after CSKA Moscow impressively switched the play from left to right with a ball that drew admiring applause from the several hundred fans in the only stand.
Many of those home supporters were grumbling when Bohui was brought down just outside the area for a free-kick but it was definitely the right call and their chagrin was compounded when Gomes despatched the set-piece into the bottom right-hand corner with Zirikov possibly at fault.
United controlled the second half for long periods, limiting the hosts to a tame volley held by Moutha-Sebtaoui and a chance that Roman Pukhov should have done much better with than head well wide of the target. At the other end, United's Ethan Laird pushed forward to drill a decent shot across goal and Bohui had some fans on their feet expecting to celebrate a goal with a powerful rising effort into the side-netting.
Suddenly, from a comfortable position, United conceded a last-gasp goal when CSKA substitute Dmitrii Merenchukov swept home from close range but, although the home supporters and their side drew encouragement from this, it was too late - and the Reds had been ultimately too strong - for the scoreline to be overturned.
United: Moutha-Sebtaoui; Laird, Warren, O'Connor, Kenyon (Tanner 60); Sang, Hamilton; Boonen, Gomes (B. Williams 86), Barlow (Garner 73); Bohui.
Subs not used: Fojticek, Dunne, Ercolani, Galbraith.
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