Joe Hugill became first player in England to reach double figures in PL2 this season

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Joe Hugill was on target again for Manchester United’s under-23 side at the weekend.

Hugill scored in the 3-0 win over Arsenal, and should really have had two, had he not missed a first half penalty.

Another day it might have been a hat-trick. After missing the first penalty, Hugill passed on a second, with Shola Shoretire scoring.

Despite the penalty mishap, Hugill is flying. He has now scored in three consecutive games and four out of his last five.

Into double figures for the under-23s

Hugill now has 10 goals for the under-23s this season. To put this in context, he became the first player in England to reach double figures.

Manchester City’s Liam Delap went on to overtake Hugill with a brace for their development side on Monday night. He previously had nine goals.

It’s an impressive achievement nonetheless for Hugill to beat Delap to the 10 goal mark.

For further context, Hugill has only started six matches at under-23 level, with the rest of his 10 appearances coming from the bench.

In total Hugill is on 16 goals for the season when you add in his six strikes for United’s under-18 side.

Working out well

Hugill is well ahead of schedule. At just 17-years-old there is no rush to promote him to the senior side.

But if he keeps on playing like he has been and scoring regularly, it will begin to become more of a conversation.

With another young prospect coming up behind him in the under-18s, Charlie McNeill has 12 goals himself, Hugill will have to keep up his momentum or risk being overtaken.

United are fortunate to have two young strike talents showing a lot of potential. They could both end this academy season each topping 20 goals.

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