Manchester United U21s beat rivals Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League 2 at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday afternoon, with Amir Ibragimov scoring his first goal for Travis Binnion’s side and Shea Lacey making his debut.
Man City were the better side early on and had several chances to score. The game’s first chance fell to Divine Mukasa, whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Will Murdock.
Centre-back Dan Armer also made a vital block to prevent Ryan McAidoo from scoring on 10 minutes before Jacob Devaney made a goalline clearance to keep the scoreline goalless.
Despite the Cityzens’ dominance, United opened the scoring on 43 minutes as striker Chido Obi pounced on a defensive blunder, accelerated into the box before finishing clinically.
Man City could not respond before the break, with United holding on to their one-goal advantage.
Binnion’s side started the second half better. Forward Sam Mather burst into the box but could not make it count, while James Scanlon fired a shot wide of the post on the hour mark.
In the 70th minute, Mather combined with Jack Fletcher, but the latter smashed his shot straight at goalkeeper Jack Wint. Moments later, the highly-rated Lacey came on to replace Jayce Fitzgerald.
Man City restored parity on 77 minutes against the run of play with Reigan Heskey running in behind to slot past Murdock.
Three minutes later, Armer made a block to deny the away side from going ahead, and Murdock made a save from the resulting corner.
Despite City upping the ante, United regained the lead in the 83rd minute when Lacey forced Wint into making a mistake. He delivered a perfect cross for Ibragimov to score his first-ever goal for Man United U21s.
Ibragimov’s strike sealed the victory for United. Having won their opening three games, they are joint table-toppers with Chelsea heading into the international break.
Man United will seek to continue their perfect start to the season after the break when they face Liverpool on September 21.