Saturday night brought another final for the Manchester United academy, with the U21s losing to Brighton in the Premier League 2 final at the Amex Stadium.
Days after Manchester United U18 were beaten in the FA Youth Cup final, the U21s were also unsuccessful.
It was a poor performance from the academy side, allowing Brighton to take a 1-0 lead in deserved fashion.
United only came into the game in the final 20 minutes, with Chido Obi missing a host of chances as Brighton held on with some big goalkeeper saves.
After so much success during this season, the final few weeks have seen a lot of heartbreak.
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You can follow along with all the latest updates from the game right here, before, during and after the cup final.
- Brighton 1-0 Manchester United
Full-time
Brighton hold on to claim a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League 2 final.
United pushed hard for an equaliser, but too little too late after a poor opening 70 minutes.
Chido Obi will feel he could have won this game.
A second final defeat in a week.
[Link]Obi again
Obi is through momentarily but his shot is blocked. United have had the chances to get back into this.
[Link]Obi scuppers another huge chance
Obi can’t sort his feet out in a golden chance as Biancheri’s backheel finds him in lots of space. Poor cameo from the Dane.
[Link]Huge miss from Obi
Excellent free-kick delivery from Lacey, but Obi’s shot is nowhere close to the target.
[Link]United struggling to make anything stick
Really disappointing night for Manchester United, hard to remember a good chance. 15 minutes to turn it around, currently looks unlikely.
[Link]Brighton miss another one-on-one
Aljofree plays a weak pass back to Murdock, which Brighton’s number nine latches on to. Luckily, he shoots wide.
[Link]Musa comes close
Jack Fletcher pulls a ball across the goal, and Victor Musa is inches away from getting a touch into an open goal.
[Link]Murdock again
Brighton have had the better of this half, with Murdock stepping up again with a big save to deny Brighton one-on-one.
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FA Youth Cup finalists getting second chance at silverware
After the heartbreak on Thursday night, there are five U18s in the squad tonight looking for silverware.
Cameron Byrne-Hughes, Dan Armer, Godwill Kukonki, Jim Thwaites, Chido Obi
[Link]Shea Lacey set for final U21 game potentially
Shea Lacey is considered a first-team player by United, meaning tonight could be his last outing for the academy ahead of a bigger first-team role next season.
Annoyingly, this game comes with too tight a turnaround for Lacey to get senior minutes tomorrow against Forest.
[Link]Dan Gore starts for United
Back to conclude his season with United is Dan Gore, after a successful loan at Rotherham where he won their player of the season award.
Potentially a dark horse to step up for United in midfield this summer.
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Manchester United starting XI
Murdock; Kamason, Aljofree, Armer, Leon; T. Fletcher, Gore; Lacey, J. Fletcher, Scanlon; Musa
Subs: Byrne-Hughes, Kukonki, Thwaites, Biancheri, Obi.
[Link]United’s XI will be interesting
There has been a lot of frustration, from Darren Fletcher, over the fixture being scheduled 48 hours after the FA Youth Cup final.
Due to this, it will be interesting to see whether Chido Obi, Jim Thwaites, Rafe McCormack, Dan Armer or Godwill Kukonki are involved for the U21s tonight.
If Thwaites, Kukonki or Obi aren’t, perhaps they are in line for a chance with the first-team tomorrow.
[Link]Last time out…
In order to reach the final, United had to overcome Manchester City at the Joie Stadium in a thrilling 4-3 semi-final victory.
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How to watch the Premier League 2 final
The game will be broadcast on MUTV from 7.25 pm BST on Saturday evening.
[Link]What time is kick off?
The Premier League 2 final kicks off at 7.30 pm BST at the American Express Stadium in Brighton.
[Link]Brighton U21 vs Man United U21 LIVE
Welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League 2 final.
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