U21s match summary: United v Fulham

Manchester United’s Under-21s were condemned to a first defeat in six Premier League 2 matches on Monday night, having been edged out 1-0 by Fulham at Leigh Sports Village.

Callum Osmand’s strike, 10 minutes after half-time, proved to be the difference as the Cottagers left the North West with all three points from the encounter under the lights.

Teenage defender Ayden Heaven, who joined United’s senior squad after signing from Arsenal earlier this month, made his first appearance for the club on the evening, completing a pre-planned 45-minute outing.

Clear-cut chances had been hard to come by in the opening stages on a bitterly cold night in Leigh, but the contest began to open up at both ends as the first half unfolded.

Fulham’s three best opportunities arrived in the space of as many minutes, as two near-misses from Osmand threatened to trouble the scoreline either side of captain Chris Donnell’s goalbound strike, which needed a smart low stop from young Reds goalkeeper William Murdock to keep it out.

Earlier, Murdock’s shot-stopping counterpart Michael Allen had denied James Scanlon at the other end but it was Malachi Sharpe who came closest for United just before the break, after the winger produced a tidy nutmeg on an opponent before driving into the box and seeing his eventual attempt clawed away by Allen.

Travis Binnion’s team had won our last five matches in the competition, but were going to have to come from behind to extend that run after Osmand opened the scoring for Fulham in the 55th minute, slipping the ball under Murdock after he was played through on goal by Lemar Gordon’s slide-rule pass.

The young Reds saw plenty of the ball as we attempted to hit back and struck the woodwork through the lively Sharpe, who cut inside from the left and curled a low effort that took a deflection en route to flicking the outside of the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

A stern rearguard effort from Fulham, in a low block, kept further openings to a minimum and it was only they who found the net again before the night was out, although successful finishes from Terrell Works and Luca Picotto were both ruled out by the assistant referee’s offside flag.

MATCH DETAILS

Booked: Heaven, Thwaites | Allen, Osmand.

Goal: Osmand 55.

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