Manchester United U19s rounded out the group stage at the Otten Innovation Cup on Saturday.
Darren Fletcher’s young side started the tournament on Friday and a Day one recap can be read here.
Going into their final group stage match, Manchester United needed a win over Adelaide United and for PSV Eindhoven to defeat Palmeiras to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Group stage match three vs Adelaide United
Manchester United started brightly, taking immediate control of the match and carved the Australian side open early on, which led to Camron Mpofu feeding Jaume Camacho, who shot just wide of the right post.
The Spaniard, Camacho, was at the centre of all the action through the opening stages as he kept finding pockets of space around the Adelaide box, but the midfielder’s shots on goal did little to trouble Laris Cesko.
In the 14th minute, a rare chance came Adelaide’s way with a dipping long-range shot forcing Charlie Hardy to scramble and parry for a corner.
Two minutes later, it was Camacho who found space in a central area again, and this time he found his shooting boots as he arrowed a shot into the bottom right corner from 25 yards out to give Manchester United the lead.
Immediately from the restart, Manchester United forced a turnover and Junior Brown raced into the Adelaide area before being hacked down by the keeper to earn a penalty. Mpofu stepped up and dispatched down the middle to give Manchester United a 2-0 lead at the break.
The match looked like it was only going one way at this point, but a wonderful strike against the run of play by Amlani Tatu from 20 yards beat Hardy to give Adelaide a lifeline.
A calamitous error at the back then saw Hardy’s clearance blocked by Harry Crawford and into the goal to steal a point for Adelaide three minutes before the final whistle.
It was a disappointing result for the young Red Devils after dominating the first half, but the result in the other group match meant that Manchester United ultimately would have remained in third place even with a win.
Manchester United starting XI: Hardy, Helafu, Laurie, McCormack, J. Watson, McEvoy, Carrick, De Jonge-Seiros, Camacho, Brown, Mpofu
5th-8th place semi-final vs Club Brugge
Having failed to qualify for the semi-finals, United moved into the 5th-8th place placement rounds where they met Club Brugge.
Just as in the match before, The Red Devils took control of the midfield from the start and caused trouble with their high press, which smothered the Belgian side in their defensive third.
It was United’s press which led to the match’s opening goal. Manu Ziro poked the ball away from the Club Brugge defender and Mpofu pounced with a low first-time finish past the keeper.
Ziro then doubled United’s lead moments before the break. Ziro combined with Jariyah Shah to break down the right wing, which saw Shah’s shot initially saved, but Ziro was on hand to finish the rebound.
In United’s best performance of the tournament, the opposition never threatened to make a comeback and Fletcher’s fledglings ran out 2-0 winners to advance to the 5th-6th place play-off final, where they will meet SL Benfica on Sunday.
Manchester United starting XI: Z. Watson, Helafu, Ngwashi, J. Watson, McCormack, Shah, Carrick, Dejonge-Seiros, Camacho, Ziro, Mpofu
Full squad list
Keepers: Charlie Hardy, Zac Watson
Defenders: Yuel Helafu, Jayden Ngwashi, Connor Laurie, Jacob Watson, Harley Emsden-James, Sam O’Brien, Jaume Camacho, Idris Fabiyi
Midfielders: Rafe McCormack, Jay McEvoy, Jariyah Shah, Jacey Carrick, Jodie Nganga, Harlem McLaughlin, Manu Ziro
Forwards: Junior Brown, Louie Bradbury, Kai Rooney, Camron Mpofu, Edson DeJonge-Seiros
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
