In another fixture at The Leigh Sports Village Stadium for the young Devils, Warren Joyce’s side yet again came out on top in a game that can only be described as a bad day at the office for both keepers.
United went into the match a point ahead of nearest competitors for the Under-21 title, Liverpool, with five games left. The Reds lost to Fulham earlier in the day leaving United a good chance to capitalise on their misfortune, while visitors West Ham United had not only failed to scored an away goal for eight hours, but had failed to win on the road all season.
Tom Thorpe and Tyler Blackett were missing from the backline for the match, while Andreas Pereira, although in attendance, had to miss out due to his upcoming commitments for the Brazil Under-20 side – as the Seleҫão strangely saw the upcoming days and weeks as a better time for friendlies than the recently passed international break.
The match started in a slow manner, with neither side looking like scoring, which cannot be considered surprising from a West Ham point of view due to their poor away form. However, on the fifteen minute mark The Hammers took a surprising lead.
A free kick from just over the halfway line was swung into the so called ‘danger zone’, and Joel Castro Pereira, not to be confused with Andreas, was hesitant at coming for the ball – which ultimately cost his side as sixteen year-old England Under-17 captain Reece Oxford headed home.
The young centre back, who has attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and none other than Manchester United, powered home past the despairing to give his side a shock lead and a good chance to end their struggles in the league.
After the opener, Manchester United appeared to have woken up after their poor start, probing in and around West Ham’s midfield without ever really threatening them properly, as the away side looked very comfortable and organised at the back.
Josh Harrop, tenacious as he is, took individual action to get United back into it, when he, skilfully as always, weaved through a number of West Ham defenders inside their box to curl a slow near post shot past West Ham goalkeeper Sam Howes who was appalled by his efforts to stop the ball in the area of the goal where, as his coaches must regularly tell him, he must never be beaten.
The equaliser appeared to have got West Ham players’ heads down and this showed as almost immediately after the restart, United took the lead. On the twenty-second minute Paddy McNair led the charge after a failed West Ham corner, finding himself in an unfamiliar left-wing position before having a throwback to his younger midfield days as threaded through a perfectly weighted pass to Joe Rothwell. With the midfielder managing to outmuscle the defender alongside him, he calmly slotted the ball past Howes who couldn’t be to blame for conceding this time.
Although officially there was one minute and forty seconds between The Red Devils’ two replying goals, in actual playing time it only took them no more than sixty seconds to get themselves in front.
Adnan Januzaj, who took the armband for the fixture after yet again dropping down from the first team for match fitness, came close to extending his sides lead twice, both from set pieces. Initially winning the free kick himself after being tripped by Diego Poyet, for which he got a booking, the second opportunity came courtesy of a rash challenge on Harrop. Giving Januzaj the opportunity to test the goalkeeper from a similar area, both times Howes got down well to save, in an effort to redeem himself.
Midfield gladiator Liam Grimshaw had a rare opportunity fall to him towards the end of the half as a scramble in the box from a corner resulted in Grimshaw swivelling to flash a shot just over. Just before half time, Castro Pereira was yet again to blame for a West Ham goal as he unnecessarily came out to collect the ball as defender Donald Love played a back pass; which bypassed the Swiss-Portuguese stopper, handing the lurking Jordan Brown an easy tap-in to bring West Ham back on level terms.
There was time for just one more chance before the break, and it came as a result of a rugby-like tackle on Januzaj by Lewis Page, which caused the Belgian to kick out at the full-back and inspired a heated exchanged between the two – resulting in bookings apiece for their troubles. The resulting free kick, taken by Januzaj again, looked to be in delivery territory but was instead smashed at the near post and towards goal before a smart stop from the improving Howes.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first, and with both sides reluctant to concede, a tame effort from recovering hamstring injury victim James Wilson was the only shot of note from either side in the opening fifteen minutes.
On the 63rd minute though, it was time for yet another goalkeeping error – this time from Howes for his second occasion of the match. An in swinging corner from Januzaj slipped through the fingers of the unchallenged keeper, and the ball fell to Harrop who coolly tapped it in from a few yards out with the outside of his right foot.
Januzaj got yet another chance to score as he pressured a defender and nicked the ball off of him to get through on goal before lofting the ball over the goal. The young number eleven lifted his shirt over his head in disgust as he knew he had the opportunity to put the game to bed.
From then onwards however the match was played out to a mundane conclusion, besides from a final attempt by Castro Pereira to lose United the game in the 75th minute as he flapped at a cross aimlessly. As the ball eventually dropped to Josh Cullen who, fortunately for Castro Pereira and United, couldn’t take advantage.
Highly rated Under-18 captain Axel Tuanzebe came on for United late on in the game, the 17-year-old making his third appearance for the Under-21s. Regular watchers of the Under-18s who were hoping to see Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but the Dutchman will have to wait a little longer to see his debut, as he was an unused substitute for the game. Nevertheless, it was encouraging, albeit unsurprising, that he is now involved in the Under-21 set-up.
In the end Manchester United came out of the match as winners over West Ham, extending both their lead at the top and their opponents misery on the road as they look set for relegation at the end of the campaign.
Line-up: Castro Pereira, Rafael, McNair, Love, Kellett, Grimshaw, Rothwell, Goss, Harrop, Wilson, Januzaj
Subs: O’Hara, Tuanzebe, Fosu Mensah, Willock, Weir
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