City shared the points with United in an incredibly entertaining draw.
Four penalties and a strike a-piece saw the U18 derby end 3-3, with City’s goals courtesy of Lewis Fiorini (2) and Cole Palmer.
What happened
On their return from the international break, Gareth Taylor’s side headed straight to Carrington for the first Under-18 Manchester derby of the season.
Entering the game, the Blues were 13 points behind fourth placed United with a game in hand and – after narrowly missing out on last season’s title to our near neighbours – City were ready and raring to go.
Ben Knight was a huge threat on the wing from the off, with his speed and agility allowing him to consistently feed balls into his team mates from the right. This was evident after only a few minutes of play when the Ipswich-born youngster offloaded to Fiorini to allow him enough space to have a shot from the edge of the box, but it came to nothing as it spiralled over the crossbar.
Despite starting strongly, it was the Reds who went ahead as they were awarded a penalty in the 14th minute when Charlie McCann went down in the area. United’s Dylan Levitt stepped up to take the shot and converted from the spot.
Both sides continued to share the possession as the first half progressed, and the scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of City’s efforts.
After a few chances and near goals, City netted twice from the penalty spot through Fiorini to move ahead just minutes before half time. With the first penalty, Fiorini was brought down by Brandon Williams and the second, Keke Simmonds was fouled by Ethan Laird.
In the second half, pressure mounted.
City sat deep after the break but the Blues couldn’t keep out D’Mani Mellor’s shot. Mellor – whose speed continued to test Corrigan throughout – burst free and was in the right place at the right time to tap in the deflection after Louie Moulden saved the initial attempt.
It wasn’t long before the fourth penalty of the match was awarded, as Moulden launched to the side to snatch the ball and clipped D’Mani Mellor’s feet to bring him to the ground at the mouth of goal. Levitt – United’s first scorer – then netted his second with a successful shot.
Just as it looked like United had notched up a gear, we responded it true style to make it 3-3. Cole Palmer slalomed around the United defence, and his clever footwork in front of the ‘keeper resulted in a superb finish to take it level once again.
How we lined up
Louis Moulden was in goal shielded by a back four of Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, skipper Rowan McDonald, Yeboah Amankwah and Ryan Corrigan.
Joe Hodge was employed in his defensive midfield role alongside Lewis Fiorini and Cole Palmer.
Ben Knight and Jayden Braaf occupied the wings while Keke Simmonds led the line up front.
Up next
Next in the U18 Premier League, the Blues welcome West Bromwich Albion to the City Football Academy on Saturday 1 December, kick-off at 11.30am.
