Sheffield United 2-2 Manchester United: FA Youth Cup Final
The Manchester United youngsters are following in the footsteps of their seniors as they came away with honours from Bramall Lane after drawing the first-leg of their FA Youth Cup 2-2, with Sheffield United.
The Young Red Devils are chasing a 10th youth title in the FA Cup and have it all in their favour as they will play Sheffield in a home tie next week.
United went ahead in controversial circumstances last night when Jesse Lingard put the away side ahead in the tie, only to be equalized later through a spectacular Callum McFadzean strike.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jordan-c2929 Slew made sure his side were not to end on the losing side as he restored the parity just minutes later.
A record audience of almost 30,000 witnessed the proceedings at Bramall Lane with United manager, Sir http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson also in attendance to spur on his youngsters.
United started the match brightly and almost went ahead in the early minutes but Corey Gregory headed just wide off the mark.
United’s persistence however, did pay off after 25 minutes when Lingard beat the opponents’ goalie to meet a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-c29347 Pogba cross and the ball looped towards the goal.
To the naked eye, it appeared that a combination of cross bar and Harry Maguire had stopped the ball from crossing the line but the referee after consulting his linesman awarded the goal.
Just a few minutes later though, Maguire was on hand to stop Ravel Morrison from scoring as he got in a last ditch tackle to deprive the united striker of the ball.
United were dominating the proceedings in the game and Long had to make a goal-line clearance from a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-c25261 Keane effort.
Despite being out played by their opponents, Sheffield United did not throw in the towel and somehow got themselves back in the game when McFadzean fired a cannon from outside the box to beat the United keeper and restore
the parity.
The Red Devils responded by increasing the tempo of the game and were unlucky not to forge ahead when Morrison forced another brilliant save from Long.
With only 20 minutes to go in the game, United finally restored their lead as Will Keane slotted home from close range to take his tally of goals in the competition to 6.
The lead however, only lasted two minutes as Slew drew things level with a deflected strike but the home fans didn’t care much as they were going mad in the aisle.
In the dying moments of the game, Ryan Tuncliffe and Morrison both went close to snatch the winner but Long stood firm and made comfortable saves as the hosts secured a much deserved draw.
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