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Manchester United U21s took on West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Monday night as they looked to bounce back from their defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough last time out.
The match saw the return of Omari Forson and Willy Kambwala after featuring in Erik ten Hag’s senior side along with Toby Collyer and Habeeb Ogunneye who have featured on the bench for the first team in recent weeks.
The first chance fell to the home side but their striker’s glancing header flashed past the left post and went wide.
But from then on in, it was all one-way traffic for United with Ashton Missin driving a low ball across the box for Ethan Ennis to stretch and get on the end of but the winger couldn’t get his foot on it.
Five minutes later, Forson kickstarted the counter attack and it was another dangerous cross from the right side but this time, Charlie McNeill provided the delivery which West Brom defender Aaron Harper-Bailey could only turn into his own net while desperately trying to clear.
United almost had their second in the 19th minute when Collyer pressed from the front and forced the turnover before running through on goal but the defensive midfielder looked in a strange position as he hesitated and had his shot stopped.
Just after the half hour mark, West Brom came their closest when Eseosa Sule fired one off the crossbar from long range before Elyh Harrison and Sam Murray came up with big blocks on the rebound attempts.
In the 37th minute, United doubled their lead with another great ball over the top from Sonny Aljofree starting the move, McNeill crossed first time for Ennis waiting at the back post to tap in for an easy finish.
Shortly after, Ennis looked to return the favour, crossing to McNeill running onto a gaping open net but the striker couldn’t reach the ball in time.
At the break, United lead 2-0 and it was thoroughly deserved.
Ethan Williams emerged at the restart in place of Ennis and the substitute almost made an immediate impact, latching onto a loose ball and striking just wide of the right post.
Charlie McNeill made it three in the 67th minute as he slotted home a well deserved goal. A sublime pass from Aljofree once again from the back cut through the entire West Brom side to put McNeill through in on goal before the striker expertly dinked the ball over the keeper.
With the match in the bag and the home side posing little threat, the tempo of the game went down to that of a training exercise.
But there was still some excitement late on as a double substitution saw 16-year-old Bendito Mantato enter to make his U21s debut alongside the return of Tyler Fredricson, who hasn’t featured for 16 months due to injury.
The score finished 3-0 to earn United their first clean sheet of the season, pushing them up to 11th place.
United: Harrison, Kambwala, Aljofree, Ogunneye (Fredricson 85), Murray, Baumann (Curley 77), Collyer, Forson, Ennis (Williams 46), Missin (Mantato 85), McNeill
Unused subs: Plumley
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