Three Standout Players: Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle (U18s)

Manchester United’s under-18s continued their immaculate league form with a 3-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.

The young Reds went in front shortly after the second half began through a well-struck hit from Ethan Williams, who bagged his 10th goal contribution of the season.

However, a collapse in communication between Jack Kingdon and goalkeeper Tom Myles ended in a deserved equaliser for the hosts with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Afterwards, Adam Lawrence’s side turned up the pressure and ended up scoring within minutes of the restart through Ashton Missin’s pinpoint shot from the edge of the box.

With the game still in the balance approaching the final minutes, United defended well and sparked a counter-attack with seconds to spare, which allowed Jayce Fitzgerald to secure the win by scoring a third.

The victory sees United continue their win-only streak in the Under-18s Premier League North this term, with 11 out of 11 so far, and there were several bright performances from those in red on the day.

Jacob Devaney

Jacob Devaney offered a dominant display at the base of United’s midfield. He regularly got the ball by dropping into spaces, and whilst his passing arsenal does not seem to be incredible, he scans well and regularly makes the correct decisions on the ball.

His out-of-possession work is also extremely handy to the team through his hard pressing and tackling as well as a good spot to when to make those movements to pressure. Once he was taken off, United were slightly more vulnerable in the midfield.

Jayce Fitzgerald

Jayce Fitzgerald is one of the most highly-rated talents in United’s academy, and this performance showed exactly why.

He is very impressive with the ball at his feet and can evade challenges through his close control. He aided United defensively against Newcastle whilst also being key in possession.

A great run and confident finish at the end topped off a solid performance.

Harry Amass

Harry Amass was the best player on the pitch by some distance and earned deserved praise from supporters. He was smart in possession, aiding United’s build-up and progression whilst also winning back possession several times with well-timed interceptions and tackles.

It was a gruelling task for Newcastle’s pressing players to try and win the ball off Amass, who remained laser-focused when in those spots, knowing when he needed to pass back and recycle play and also when the chance came to skip past the man and move into the open space.

Defensively, he was solid too, and his perfect through-ball at the end of the game set up Fitzgerald for his goal.