Greenwood double earns fine win at Derby
Manchester United’s Under-18s staged a tremendous fightback to claim a thrilling 2-1 victory over title challengers Derby County at the Oakwood Training Centre on Saturday.
Trailing at the break, the Reds rallied in the second half to snaffle maximum points, with both goals coming from ace striker Mason Greenwood.
After the sub-zero temperatures at Etihad Campus, last week, it was a delight to be at a game with bright sunshine on a pleasantly warm afternoon in Derbyshire. Shorts and T-shirts were the order of the day as the game started, with a good number of supporters taking advantage of the more than acceptable conditions.
United started well against the league leaders and looked to be in a good collective frame of mind during the opening minutes of the game.
Having said that, there was little in the way of gilt-edged scoring chances and, in the 8th minute, the home side showed how it was done when they strode into the lead with a goal courtesy of Morgan Whittaker.
Mason Greenwood, United’s leading goalscorer, was looking to add to his season’s tally, and almost did so with a fine, low drive after 12 minutes, but Rams goalkeeper Ben French was well placed to stop the shot.
At the other end, United’s number one Jacob Carney came to his team’s rescue with a terrific pair of saves to prevent Derby’s main striker Javaun Splatt from doubling the advantage.
Then, in the space of three minutes, both sides went close to finding the target, with Largie Ramazani finding the roof of the net with a cheeky lob and Derby’s Whittaker hitting the angle of post and bar with sizzling shot.
United had a remarkable let-off, ten minutes after the restart, when Derby’s Jason Knight looked certain to score with a point-blank strike, but the ball was blocked on the line by Reece Devine.
Whittaker should have doubled his haul for the afternoon when he latched on to Archie Brown’s cross from the left, but his shot sailed over the bar.
United had been on the receiving end of things but gradually forced their way back into the game, and in the 69th minute they grabbed the equaliser with a picture-book goal.
Ethan Galbraith started the move with a brilliant challenge to win the ball and sent Iestyn Hughes away down the right. The young full-back immediately whipped over a terrific cross and, with a towering header, Greenwood found the net.
The Reds were enjoying their best spell of the game and four minutes later Greenwood was centre stage again to give his side the lead with a cracker.
And the red-hot forward very nearly completed his hat-trick close to the end with another sensational shot that fizzed just past French’s left post.
Neil Ryan’s lads complete their league programme with a home game against Everton at the Aon Training Complex next Saturday.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Carney; Hughes (Mellor 83), Bernard, Williams, Devine; Galbraith, Traore, McCann; Ramazani (McGhee 79), Greenwood, Elanga
Substitutes not used: Mastny, Helm, Fish
Goals: Whittaker 8; Greenwood 69, 73
Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.
Back to Top