U21s: Fulham 2 United 2
Manchester United's Under-21s drew 2-2 with Fulham in Premier League 2 on Friday.
Shea Lacey opened the scoring from the penalty spot with just 14 minutes played, with the 18-year-old hauled down inside the area to also win the spot-kick.
Lacey then scored again to double our lead in the capital, firing home past Cottagers goalkeeper Dino Kaiser from close range.
Fulham hit back through Farhaan Ali Wahid at the end of the first half, with his low drive getting the better of Will Murdock.
Ali Wahid then scored again just past the hour mark, cutting inside onto his left foot to dispatch his second and draw the hosts level.
FIRST HALF
Seth Ridgeon had the game's first opportunity, shooting high and wide, failing to trouble Murdock in the opening stages.
A tidy switch from Jayce Fitzgerald brought on our first opportunity of the evening, with our no.10 locating Lacey. The Liverpudlian drove into the box and saw his effort saved, but success was soon to be around the corner.
Just a minute later, Fitzgerald again picked out Lacey, with this time the teenager winger brought down by Jonathan Esenga, with referee Harrison Blair pointing to the spot.
Lacey took on the responsibility himself at Motspur Park, sending Kaiser the wrong way to open our account.
The Cottagers then stepped up after failing behind, with Murdock called into action to deny Tom Olyott and Tom Wingate in quick succession.
But somewhat against the run of play, our young Reds had a second, with Lacey found brilliantly by Jacob Devaney. Taking the ball into his stride, the young forward made no mistake from close range, smashing home to double his tally and our lead.
Jaydan Kamason was the next to go close, with his strike palmed away after Malachi Sharpe had done well to carve open the opportunity.
But just before the break, Fulham hit back through Ali Wahid. Jayden Quashie did well to turn over possession, before his team-mate drove at United's backline and struck a low drive that flew past Murdock and into the bottom corner.
SECOND HALF
As the second half began, Devaney was again orchestrating play from midfield, spraying possession from left to right with ease as Fulham tried to contain our skipper.
His latest pass found Lacey in acres of space, with Macauley Zepa unable to stop the England Under-20 international, who saw his latest effort saved by Kaiser.
United came forward again in search of a third, with Lacey once again at the heart of it all. His next shot cannoned back off the woodwork, with almost eery similarities to his shot against Burnley a few weeks ago.
Shortly after, however, Fulham found a leveller through danger man Ali Wahid. Zepa's run forward opened up the space for December's Premier League 2 Player of the Month, who shot low and hard, beating Murdock at his near post.
Tom Curtis must of thought his side should have gone ahead with 78 minutes on the clock, with Tyler Fletcher's pass brilliantly finding Scanlon. The Gibraltar star appeared to round Fulham's goalkeeper, but still couldn't find the net, with Gabriele Biancheri also unable to score on the follow-up.
A whole host of changes disrupted the flow of the game inside the final stages, with Chido Obi replacing Lacey, as Biancheri operated in a wider position from the right of our attack.
Eddy Nsasi also blocked a great opportunity for the Reds in stoppage time, preventing Yuel Helafu's pass from finding Chido Obi with his hand, earning himself a caution in the process.
Scanlon's resulting free-kick came to no avail, with both sides forced to settle for a point each.
Fulham: Kaiser; De Jesus, Nsasi, Walters, Esenga (Zepa 46); Chingwaro, Quashie; Olyott (Casey 67), Ridgeon (Cavell 80), Wingate; Ali Wahid.
Subs not used: Mayer, Cooke.
Booked: Esenga, Cavell.
Goals: Ali Wahid 45+1, 64.
United: Murdock; Kamason (Helafu 67), Aljofree, Munro (Armer 60), Leon; Devaney, T.Fletcher; Lacey (Scanlon 60), Fitzgerald, Sharpe (Obi 60); Biancheri.
Subs not used: Heath.
Booked: Fletcher, Lacey, Fitzgerald.
Goals: Lacey 14, 22.