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Manchester United u21s picked up their second win in the National League Cup with a 0-4 win over Altrincham last night.
Here are our player ratings for the match. Read the detailed match report of all the action here.
(A score of 6 is around average)
Dermot Mee – 7 – A good performance in goal to keep his clean sheet with a couple of top saves. Showed his passing range as well with a nice pass to pick out Mather on the right wing in particular.
Habeeb Ogunneye – 7.5 – Up against a tricky and speedy winger with international experience but held his own and was up to the task. A gritty performance, he is physically ready for senior football and puts himself about well in and out of possession.
Louis Jackson – 7.5 – One poor pass in the first half which put himself under trouble but a very strong performance outside of that.
Jack Kingdon – 7.5 – Defends the box very well and didn’t give Altrincham much of a sniff in dangerous areas.
Harry Amass – 8 – Capable of the outrageous, he is near impossible to dispossess when in full flow. This saw him taking on three and four players at times before playing through the press and being hacked down after the play. A marker of a performance showing that he is more than capable of the physical rigour of senior football.
Tommy Rowe – 7 – A measured performance from the player-coach, knew when to put his foot on the ball to slow down the tempo when Altrincham were trying to make it physical and kept United on track to play their own game in midfield.
Jack Moorhouse – 8.5 – After spending the majority of the past two seasons out with injury, tonight was Moorhouse’s best performance since his return. A remarkable 60 yard run where he dodged several challenges set up Ennis for his first, but his ability to evade a tackle with a shimmy and a sidestep was prevalent throughout the opening hour before coming off. A top performance from the young midfielder.
Sam Mather – 6.5 – Some nice touches coming infield and was safe in possession but United favoured the left hand side with Ennis flying.
Amir Ibragimov – 8 – Playing in the number 10 spot but it was his dirty work that was the most eye catching. Chasing back to United’s own box or flying into strong challenges in the middle of the park, he put his full effort into every part of the game despite having the ability on the ball to dance past defenders, which he also did. He was rewarded for his hard work with an easy finish from close range after being the only one alive to the rebound.
Ethan Ennis – 9.5 – Devastating throughout, whether it was beating them for pace or cutting inside with some close dribbling, he had the beating of his marker every time he touched the ball. A trademark finish at this point, his opening two goals were near carbon copies cutting onto his right and curling to the far corner before he then grabbed his hat-trick with a beautiful dinked finish. He has now scored 6 goals and 3 assists in 5 appearances against senior opposition this season, really showing that he is ready for the next step whether that is out on loan in January or fighting for a spot in Ruben Amorim’s squad.
Victor Musa – 6 – Didn’t get involved much and struggled to hold the ball up at times. His deflected shot was tipped onto the bar which ultimately led to Ibragimov’s goal.
Substitutes
Finley McAllister – 7.5 – A good performance off the bench, he kept the tempo up with some fizzed passes through the lines and out wide after the match had hit a bit of a lull. Could have had a goal when the ball fell kindly to him at the edge of the box but hit it too close to the centre.
Ashton Missin – 7 – Offered real energy on the right wing and his change of pace is hard for any defender to cope with. Had a really nice move into the box and then later on set up Ennis for his hat-trick with a good inside run.
Jim Thwaites – N/A – Not on the pitch long enough to make much of an impact.
Louie Bradbury – N/A – Not on the pitch long enough to make much of an impact but a fantastic achievement to make his u21s debut against senior opposition as a schoolboy.
For our full match report, click here.