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Manchester United u21s took on an experienced Sunderland side on Saturday afternoon after a hard fought draw with PSV Eindhoven during midweek.
It was a strong XI for the home side, featuring the likes of Adil Aouchiche, Abdoullah Ba, and Jewison Bennette who have extensive senior football experience to their names including in Ligue 1 and the international stage alongside their experience in Sunderland’s first team.
It was one of the trio who would make the difference early on. A well-worked short corner routine found Aouchiche who finished from the edge of the box in just the third minute.
United hit back quickly though, winning the ball high up the pitch to create the opening for Jack Fletcher to draw level.
Sunderland restored their lead in the 23rd minute, a dangerous cross from the left wing was inadvertently turned past Hubert Graczyk by Habeeb Ogunneye.
The end of the first half saw a flurry of goals with three goals in the final four minutes of the half.
The first of which came from Sunderland’s Trey Samuel-Ogunsuyi, who steered home the cross from Bennette.
United’s number nine, Gabriele Biancheri, then provided some cheer. Some nice passing play from Fletcher and Sam Mather and eventually the ball fell for Biancheri who made no mistake and netted his 16th goal of the season.
Fletcher came close to adding his second of the match but instead it was Samuel-Ogunsuyi who restored Sunderland’s two goal lead in injury time with an exceptional solo goal, running in from the right side before cutting past Jack Kingdon’s challenge and slotting past Graczyk.
Three minutes into the second half, Graczyk couldn’t do much about Sunderland’s fifth as Timor Tutierov cut in from the left wing and rifled into the top corner to make it 5-2.
Ethan Wheatley looked to pull United back into it from the bench, drawing a top save from the keeper but was ultimately unable to find the back of the net as Sunderland emerged victorious.
The match saw the first involvement for Sekou Kone since his summer signing with manager Travis Binnion saying after the match, “I thought Wheatley and Fredricson coming on at half-time did very well, and Sekou Kone was really bright when he came on. Jacob Devaney did well in midfield as well.”
It was a day of learning though as Binnion acknowledged the step-up required to U21s level adding, “Some of these players are learning on the job and that’s what it’s there for.
“The U21s level is very different to U18s football when the opposition do it right, when they play with tempo and intensity. Sunderland did that, so credit to them and plenty to learn for our boys today.”
United: Graczyk, Kamason, Ogunneye, Kingdon, Amass (Fredricson 45), McAllister (Kone 71), Baumann, Sharpe, J. Fletcher (Wheatley 45), Mather (Devaney 60), Biancheri
Unused subs: Myles