Manchester United U21s travelled to Burnley on Sunday afternoon for Premier League 2 action.
Harry Amass and Tyler Fletcher returned to Adam Lawrence’s starting XI after being unused substitutes with the first team against Roma in midweek.
There was first team experience in the Burnley side as well, with three overaged players, including 27-year-old Belgian international Mike Tresor.
First half
Despite fielding a much younger team, United took control of proceedings from the start and went ahead in just the 16th minute.
Amass played Tynan Thompson down the left wing to deliver a cross into the area, which was expertly finished first time by Bendito Mantato. This was a reverse of the combination which saw Thompson score his first goal for United during the week.
Thompson then looked to go for goal himself when he cut inside two defenders, but his shot was blocked away for a corner.
Jaydan Kamason was one of the standouts for United on the day, and he almost had an assist when he delivered inside to Jim Thwaites, whose shot was deflected off the crossbar. Enzo Kana-Biyik tried to follow up on the rebound but scuffed his effort.
Just before the half-hour mark, Mantato broke into the box on the right side and was taken down, but the referee waved play on despite the contact, and the score remained 0-1 until the break.
Second half
After providing little threat throughout the opening 45 minutes, Burnley came out in the second half much improved and forced a good save from Cameron Byrne-Hughes after Enock Agyei broke free behind Dan Armer.
Burnley tried to find Agyei again moments later with a delivery to the back post, but Amass was alert to the situation and cut out the danger.
However, a mistake at the back by Albert Mills saw the ball turned over to Zach Johnson, who cut inside and unleashed a rocket into the top right corner, giving Byrne-Hughes no chance.
At the other end, Amass picked out Thwaites running through the inside left channel, and the midfielder was denied by a fingertip save as his effort looked to curl inside the right post.
The challenge became harder for United in the 64th minute when Armer received a straight red card for a lunging challenge. Despite the man disadvantage, United had chances to restore the lead, but Amass and Noah Ajayi were both cynically hacked down on counter-attacks.
Kamason came closest to finding a winner when he went on a sensational cross-field run from right-back to the left side of the box, but was met by an equally incredible save by Lewis Forshaw.
The young Red Devils ultimately had to settle for a draw as they now head into the international break and are not in action again until 29th November against Crystal Palace.
Match facts
United: Byrne-Hughes, Kamason, Mills, Armer(C), Amass, T. Fletcher, Ibragimov (Helafu 46), Mantato (Munro 69), Thwaites, Thompson (Missin 74), Kana-Biyik (Ajayi 74)
Unused subs: Heath, Leon, Orozco
Goals: Mantato 16
Red card: Armer 64
Featured image James Fearn via Getty Images
