Young Reds held in Youth League

Manchester United’s under-19s were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolfsburg in their UEFA Youth League clash.

Marcus Rashford’s first-half penalty for the Reds was canceled out by Anton-Leander Donkor’s cooly-taken chip in the second half of what was at times a cagey encounter at the Leigh Sports Village.

In the end, the scoreline was a fair result to both sides, and Nicky Butt’s young Reds may have been fortunate to come away with a point from this game, given Wolfsburg’s dominance during most of the second half. United remain top of their Youth League group, after CSKA Moscow drew 0-0 with PSV Eindhoven in the other group game.

United’s goal came in the 22nd minute. A superb long throw from goalkeeper Dean Henderson found Rashford, who proceeded to sprint past a couple of defenders before being clumsily brought down by Hassan El-Saleh in the area, leaving referee Tore Hansen no option but to point to the spot.

Captain Rashford stepped up and just about squeezed the penalty past Phillip Menzel, who got a good hand to it. United went into the break ahead, and Rashford’s pace was helping the Reds on the counter, but they weren’t creating any clear cut chances.

Wolfsburg came flying out of the box in the second half, and had a number of chances to equalise. Tyrell Warren made a brilliant tackle to deny Donkor a shooting opportunity, and moments later the striker shot wide from the edge of the area.

Henderson then denied Wolfsburg captain Amara Conde with a good save, and Leandro Putaro somehow put the follow-up wide. Die Wölfe were smelling blood, and United’s defence were being cut open at will.

Wolfsburg’s equaliser came in the 61th minute – a quick throw-in caught the Reds defence asleep, and Axel Tuanzebe’s missed header allowed Donkor to run in and chip the ball over Henderson and into the net. It was a deserved equaliser.

United had chances to get back into the lead. Zak Dearnley had a chance on the edge of the area, but his finish was poor, while Rashford fired over from a good Warren cross. Otherwise, there wasn’t any notable action after Wolfsburg’s goal and the game petered to its conclusion.