Man United U-23 Matches 2017/18

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UNDER-23S : MANCHESTER UNITED 1 MAN CITY 1



Premier League 2 | Leigh Sports Village Stadium | Scorers: Wilson 21; Nmecha 48

Honours were even in the Premier League 2 Manchester derby on Saturday afternoon, after James Wilson opened the scoring for United midway through the first half and City fought back to equalise through Lukas Nmecha early in the second half.

Ricky Sbragia’s Reds went into this fixture infused with confidence after winning the last three outings - victories over Swansea City and Athletic Club Bilbao in the Premier League International Cup came hot on the heels of collecting three league points on the road against Sunderland.

That new-found belief was plain to see in the early exchanges of the game as United pressed at forward at every opportunity. At the same time, the hosts had to be cautious in defence against the attack of what is widely perceived as a decent City side.

Fifteen minutes into the contest, the Reds were inches from moving into the lead when Wilson got his head to Zachary Dearnley's corner. Some United supporters were already on their feet preparing to celebrate, but that was before City keeper Arijanet Muric pulled off a spectacular one-handed save to push the ball over the bar.

However, it was only a reprieve for the Blues because United duly claimed the first goal of the afternoon in the 21st minute and it was Wilson who was having his name scribbled on the scoresheet. The Reds striker did incredibly well to find the net with an angled drive, after collecting Demi Mitchell's long pass and running virtually half the length of the field with the ball with City defenders giving chase.

City’s best chance of the first period arrived just after the half-hour mark when Phil Foden saw his goalbound shot saved impressively by Kieran O’Hara in the United goal.

Shortly before the half-time whistle, the Reds very nearly doubled the advantage when Ethan Hamilton had a shot blocked, seemingly by a City defender's hand but a penalty

Hamilton did put the ball in the net within three minutes of the restart, following excellent work by Wilson and Tosin Kehinde, but he was flagged offside.

Moments later and with the action having switched to the other end, City’s Nmecha swooped to score with a close-range finish and put the visitors on level terms.

This early burst of activity set the tone for the second half as the game swung from one end to the other with both sides making chances. But although both coaches utilised their full allowance of substitutes in a bid to find a winning formula, the great rivals had to settle for a point apiece at reserves level ahead of further derbies for the Under-18s and senior teams.

United: O’Hara; Riley, Ercolani, Williams R-S., Mitchell; Dearnley (Gribbin 86), Scott (Boonen 83), Sang, Kehinde; Hamilton; Wilson (Bohui 83). Substitutes not used: Warren, Johnstone.

http://www.manutd.com/en/Players-And-Staff/Reserves/Reserves-News/2017/Nov/U23s-reserves-manchester-united-v-manchester-city-premier-league-2.aspx