Manchester United u19s hosted AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday night at Old Trafford.
A special night for the young reds, they unfortunately played in front of a rather small crowd after the venue was confirmed late and little marketing was done to get supporters in to cheer Adam Lawrence’s side on to a must win.
The Dutch side came into the match with a 2-1 lead on aggregate from the return fixture and almost extended their lead in the opening minutes with a pair of quickfire chances forcing big saves from Will Murdock.
United worked their way into the match throughout the opening 45 minutes, exerting more control as time went on but offered little attacking threat.
The Red Devils’ best chance of the half came late on when Jayce Fitzgerald crossed to the head of Amir Ibragimov but the attacking midfielder’s effort didn’t trouble AZ’s Tristan Kuijsten in the goal, leaving the score deadlocked at 0-0 at the break.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with United struggling to breakdown a resolute AZ backline, while the visitors threatened at times on the counter attack, forcing five saves from Murdock on the night.
AZ came closest to hitting the back of the net when Jasper Hartog struck the crossbar after breaking in behind on a 2v1.
Minutes later, Hartog came close again but United’s man of the match Murdock was up to the task again to make the save.
United waited until the final 10 minutes of the match to throw the kitchen sink at it and introduce Chido Obi and Gabriele Biancheri off the bench.
Immediately upon his introduction, Obi went down in the box after feeling some contact but the ref didn’t give the penalty and ultimately it was too little too late for United, who just couldn’t carve out any openings throughout the 90 minutes.
The final whistle came with the score remaining 0-0, resulting in United disappointingly exiting the competition early.
The UEFA Youth League continues to be a challenge for the club with a round of 16 finish being the furthest United have made it since the competition’s inception. Back in domestic competition where the u18s have excelled, the FA Youth Cup kicks off next week as United take on Coventry City.
United: Murdock, Kamason (Obi 80), Jackson, Fredricson, Amass, Devaney, Fitzgerald, Scanlon (T. Fletcher 83), Ibragimov (Thwaites 58), Williams (Missin 58), Wheatley (Biancheri 80)
Unused subs: Byrne-Hughes; Munro, Baumann, Kukonki