Manchester United U18s were back in action on Saturday and one player shined bright, as Shea Lacey made his widely anticipated return.
On Saturday, Manchester United are in Premier League action, but before this, the U18s were playing intending to further extend their almost insurmountable 16-point lead at the pinnacle of the U18 PL.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, this is exactly what happened.
Travis Binnion‘s side were back in devastating form, adding another four goals to the growing tally after the nine put past Liverpool last week.
This weekend, the game was against Stoke and in a six-goal thriller, United walked out 4-2 winners. Here’s the story of the game and who impressed.
What happened as Manchester United U18s beat Stoke 4-2
The U18s took a step closer to the title this weekend, winning 4-2 against a game Stoke side.
The scoring was opened in the 20th minute, with Gabriele Biancheri cooly finishing James Scanlon‘s low cross.
This was the beginning of yet another good day for Scanlon, as he bagged the next two goals for United in the 23rd and 44th minutes.
His second brace in as many weeks, the 17-year-old Gibraltar international has found a real level of consistency lately, which has earned him senior training call-ups.
Stoke then pulled one back. But it was a mere consolation as Scanlon assisted Ethan Williams for the fourth goal of the day.
It’s just the latest impressive Williams display this season and is actually his 24th contribution of the season.
Another positive came for United as 16-year-old Shea Lacey made his return to action as expected after a week of training with the first team.
But without a doubt, Scanlon was the man who took all the headlines.
Scanlon shines for the U18s
Scanlon is quietly developing really well at Carrington and is already a senior international for Gibraltar, making his bow during the last break.
This season for United in the U18 side he’s been pretty immense, with eight goals and two assists now in 11 games.
He has also been featured in the U21 side while being called into the senior training set-up shows he’s a highly rated prospect.
While it’s easy to forget the likes of Scanlon, amid the hype of Lacey and Harry Amass for example, he’s a reminder that there are almost an unlimited amount of young talents waiting in the wings at Old Trafford.