Manchester United booked an FA Youth Cup final against neighbors Manchester City after beating Crystal Palace 2-1.
In a closely contested semi-final at Old Trafford, Chido Obi scored the winning goal in extra time after J.J. Gabriel’s second-half goal was canceled out minutes later.
Darren Fletcher’s side are due to face Manchester City in early May, but the date and venue, likely to be either the Etihad Stadium or the Joye Stadium, are yet to be confirmed.
The shaky game finally broke loose in the 77th minute after Samuel Lusalle made an impressive cameo off the bench. He found Obi and, after some impressive hold-up play, brought on 15-year-old Gabriel.
JJ Gabriel scores Manchester United goal at Old Trafford
Gabriel then ran towards goal and scored a wonderful chip shot past the Palace goalkeeper, but the lead did not last long.
Minutes later, United keeper Cameron Burne-Hughes fumbled while trying to catch the ball in the air, but Palace attacker Ryhaan Andersson ultimately paid the price.
United lost their momentum after the equalizer and Palace remained firmly in the lead as the game went into extra time.
However, in the 115th minute, James Overy sent a ball that sliced through the defense from the right, and Obi met it, calmly dribbled past the goalkeeper, and scored into the empty goal.
“Carrington’s quality shines”
Analysis by Dan Khan of Sky Sports News:
First-team coach Tavis Binion, director of football Jason Wilcox and academy director Stephen Torpey were all in attendance at Old Trafford to watch Carrington reach the FA Youth Cup final.
JJ Gabriel will make headlines for his moment of magic to lead his team to the lead. His quality continues to shine through and he has built a reputation that is almost unheard of for a young Carrington player in recent decades.
Obi had a roller coaster night. Although he missed two big chances in the game, he set up Gabriel brilliantly in United’s opener, and the winner showed his potential if he continues to develop his all-round game. His composure as he dribbled past the keeper and scored in the final minutes of extra time was sublime.
Will Obi and Gabriel be able to take part in the first team’s pre-season plans while the Wilcoxes watch on? With the World Cup in the spotlight this summer, there will be openings.
That’s for the future, but for now United are in the Youth Cup final again.
They have won the tournament a record 11 times, the last time being in 2022 with Koby Mainu in the lead role.
Manchester City await them in a mouth-watering final next month.
Arrangement of sides
Manchester United: Cameron Byrne-Hughes. Yuel Heraf, Albert Mills, Daniel Armor (c), Godwill Kukonki. Rafe McCormack, Jim Thwaites. Junior Brown, JJ Gabriel, Noah Ajayi, Chido Obi.
Crystal Palace: Lucca Benetton, Jacob Fasida, Dean Benamar, Charlie Walker-Smith, Sean Somad. Chuks Okoli (c), Joel Drakes-Thomas, Ewan Danaher, Benji Casey, Ryhaan Anderson, David Anjibaugh.
Number of attendees: 3,189 people
