U21s: United 2 Blackburn 1

The young Reds, who are continuing to gain valuable experience in the Premier League 2, were in control for the majority of the match.

Forson and Emeran put our Under-21s in the driving seat before the half-time break, and despite a second-half effort from Blackburn's Ben Fyles, the young Reds recorded a fifth straight victory.

Following cagey early stages, the first chance fell to United. Forson latched onto a Joe Hugill flick inside the box, but the winger's effort was deflected behind.

The young Reds had another sight of goal on 10 minutes, with Hugill seeing a shot blocked before Dan Gore tested Blackburn 'keeper Jordan Eastham with a low drive.

Despite our early pressure, the visitors almost went ahead when Harley O'Grady-Macken struck a fierce effort from distance, but Nathan Bishop was able to hold.

United continued to search for an opener as the first half progressed and Zidane Iqbal went close, when his shot from distance flew narrowly wide of the post, via a deflection.

Isak Hansen-Aaroen was the next to try his luck for United, striking a low effort which was seemingly destined for the bottom corner, before Eastham turned it round the post.

With 24 minutes on the clock, the Reds opened the scoring. Iqbal received the ball in midfield and expertly picked out the run of Forson, who flicked the ball beyond Eastham and into the back of the net

United weren't content with a one-goal lead and continued to search for another, but Hansen-Aaroen was denied by a great double-save from Eastham in the Blackburn goal.

As half-time approached, superb play from the Reds saw the ball eventually fall to Noam Emeran, who was denied by a goal-line clearance.

Marc Jurado hammered the ball into the net from the rebound, but the referee whistled for a foul on a Blackburn defender and disallowed the goal.

But Emeran wasn't to be denied on the stroke of the interval, being released down the left by Gore before cutting inside and caressing a right-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Blackburn looked to find a way back into the match after the break, but when an opening emerged on the edge of the box, United centre-back Bjorn Hardley did brilliantly to get across and make the block.

The visitors got another opening shortly after, when Georgie Gent drove forward, but the Blackburn left-back lofted his effort over the crossbar. But in the 68th minute, they did halve the deficit through Ben Fyles, who slotted Jared Harlock's low cross into the back of the net.

United almost made an immediate response through Hugill, who saw his effort parried by Eastham one-on-one. Moments later, Forson found the striker again with a cross, but he miscued his shot and it went wide.

With 15 minutes to go, Blackburn gifted our Under-21s a golden opportunity with a wayward pass, but Emeran's shot was smothered.

As the match entered the closing stages, Forson went agonisingly close to getting his second of the match and restoring United's two-goal lead, first clipping an effort off the crossbar before being denied by the superb reflexes of Eastham.

The Reds saw out the remainder of the match to ensure a fifth consecutive victory, gaining further experience in the process.

United XI: Bishop; Jurado, Aljofree, Hardley, Murray; Gore, Iqbal (c); Forson, Hansen-Aaroen (Collyer 82), Emeran (Mejia 82); Hugill.