Gabriele Biancheri scores 16th goal of the season, as Sekou Kone makes ‘really bright’ Man Utd U21 debut

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United’s academy had a mixed Saturday afternoon as the U21s were beaten by Sunderland.

Both Adam Lawrence and Travis Binnion had their respective Manchester United U18 and U21 sides on the road this weekend in the north of England.

The U18s were once again absolutely unstoppable, as United thrashed Leeds 8-0 thanks to hat-tricks from Amir Ibragimov and James Scanlon.

However, for the U21s things were a little tougher as they usually are, up against a strong Sunderland side the Red Devils lost 5-2.

Despite this, there were still positives to take from the game from a United point of view

• READ MORE: Manchester United’s Best Academy Players of All Time

Manchester United U21s lose to Sunderland

United’s U21s travelled to Eppleton Colliery football ground where they took on Sunderland in Premier League 2 action.

Things got off to a bad start as Sunderland took the lead in the third minute through Adil Aouchiche.

However, moments later Jack Fletcher scored to equalise, grabbing his fourth goal of the season.

Sunderland then re-took the lead through a Habeeb Ogunneye own goal, and they then added another in the 43rd minute.

Gabriele Biancheri got one back in the 45th minute, scoring his 16th goal of the season in all competitions – assisted by Fletcher for his third assist of the season.

Sunderland however pulled away again scoring in stoppage time and then also in the 48th minute to see the game end 5-2.

READ: Man Utd under-21s top scorers and assists in 2024/25, all results

Travis Binnion reacts to Sekou Kone’s debut

Despite the result, there were some positives to take with the debut of Malian summer signing Sekou Kone being one.

Kone arrived on transfer deadline day from FC Guidars and since then has taken his time getting settled in Manchester and England and also getting up to speed.

United are believed to be pleased with how Kone has been settling in and now he’s made his debut.

Speaking after the game, U21 head coach Binnion reviewed the outing on the club website from the 18-year-old, saying: “Sekou Kone was really bright when he came on.”

Clearly a good start for Kone, which hopefully means we get to see plenty more going forward.