KIDS PROVE THEIR POINT VERSUS BOYS
MANCHESTER UNITED’S young guns held their own against the Young Boys of Switzerland to give new boss Ralf Rangnick food for thought.
The Red Devils were already through to the knockouts and featured six teenagers – Shola Shoretire, Amad Diallo, Anthony Elanga, Teden Mengi, Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal – in the clash last night.
But the inexperienced side raced into an eighth-minute lead thanks to an acrobatic volley sent home by Mason Greenwood from Luke Shaw’s delivery.
The away side’s equaliser was even better three minutes before the break when Donny van de Beek gave the ball away to Fabian Rieder on the edge of the box and the playmaker calmly picked out the top right corner.
Savage, son of former Wales and Blackburn midfielder Robbie, and Iqbal came on for their United debuts on a night that ended with the concerning sight of Aaron Wan-Bissaka receiving treatment by an advertising hoarding after the final whistle.
Boss Rangnick said: “If in the end the score would have been 4-4, then nobody could have complained. There were quite a few debuts and game time for players who desperately need game time. I wouldn’t say that I was happy but it was OK.
“It was an experiment but I did it on purpose as I wanted to save the players’ energy for Norwich.”