U21s: United 1 Liverpool 1
Manchester United's Under-21s clinched second place in the table with a 1-1 draw against 10-man Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Jonjo Shelvey's stunning strike came seconds before the visitors had Stephen Sama dismissed but the Reds did not draw level until the 81st minute when Jon Flanagan put through his own net. The result means this match will be replayed in the semi-finals of the Barclays-sponsored competition with United enjoying home advantage.
The game between two of football's biggest foes got off to an explosive start with England international Shelvey slamming a 25-yard piledriver high into Ben Amos' net following a pass by Suso.
The Reds' response was swift as Adnan Januzaj released Ryan Tunnicliffe for a trademark burst forward. Sama resorted to committing a blatant professional foul on the marauding midfielder and was sent off, as he was in the corresponding fixture at St Helens.
Yet, as occurred in the goalless home draw with Wolves, having an extra man advantage from the early stages did not appear to be of any huge benefit to Warren Joyce's well-drilled side. Lacking an out-and-out striker, there was no real punch as the Merseysiders comfortably held their lead until the interval.
Januzaj found Tyler Blackett on the overlap but his cross bobbled towards Jesse Lingard, who had to readjust before seeing his shot blocked by Andre Wisdom. Another run by Lingard was ended with some calm defending by Wisdom while Amos had to be alert to push out a Suso cross during a rare breakaway.
Shelvey was fortunate to escape a second yellow card after chopping down Januzaj in full flow but United needed to improve after the break. Indeed, the hosts completely dominated the second period, to an almost ridiculous level, but still struggled to make any real headway.
Substitute Tom Lawrence was caught offside on a few occasions, once when clearly being felled by Wisdom inside the area, while Danny Ward was belatedly called into action to make a simple save from Larnell Cole. Lingard finally found some space to force a diving stop for the cameras from Ward but the keeper made a far more difficult fingertip save to frustrate Lingard again on 71 minutes.
Lingard appeared on a one-man mission to score at this point but fired off target following a pass from substitute Ben Pearson and the equaliser was ultimately scored by a visiting player. Yet another patient move led to Tunnicliffe finding Marnick Vermijl on the right and his cross was touched on by James Wilson and deflected into the net by Flanagan.
There were still nine minutes left to find a winner but Lawrence's drive was pushed over by Ward after the Welshman cut in with menace and there was no late drama with the ten-man Merseysiders holding out for a point despite Lawrence and Tunnicliffe flashing powerful shots into the stands.
United: Amos; Vermijl, Thorpe, Fornasier, James; Cole, Ekangamene (Pearson 73), Tunnicliffe, Lingard, Blackett (Lawrence 46); Januzaj (Wilson 69). Subs not used: Sutherland, Grimshaw.
http://www.manutd.com/en/Players-An...-liverpool-u21-old-trafford-match-report.aspx
