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Manchester United U19s recently qualified for the 2024 Mladen Lamjak Memorial Tournament after reaching the final last year.
After losing to Robin van Ferry’s Feyenoord last season, United are aiming to go one better this year and got off to a strong start with a 5-0 win over Udinese.
In the first game, Jayce Fitzgerald, Bendito Mantato, Gabriele Biancheri, Jim Thwaites and Duka Nkoto all scored to tie the scoreline.
They continued their strong performance in their second group match, beating AS Trencin 4-1 with Biancheri scoring twice, while Thwaites and Fitzgerald also scored their second goals of the tournament.
In their final group match, United faced SK Rapid Vienna, with both teams winning their opening two games and the winner progressing to the final.
Rapid Vienna, always a strong opponent at youth level, was no exception this time, capitalizing on a mistake by Ellie Harrison to take the lead first.
In the second half, Biancheri fell down as he tried to grab the rebound to win a United penalty. The Wales striker stepped up and scored his fourth goal of the tournament.
The match ended 1-1, which was enough to send United into the final against home side Dinamo Zagreb.
There was a memorable clash last year, when the two teams met in the group stage, with United winning 5-4.
This year too, it looked like Dynamo would be on a scoring rampage from the start of the game with some threatening shots, but Harrison made a great save.
The home team took the lead after just six minutes, when Jaydan Carmason made a slide tackle and the ball bounced to the winger, who slotted it into the net.
Jacob Devaney pulled a goal back after 22 minutes after Mantato had passed the ball to the edge of the box for the midfielder to run on.
Dynamo took the lead again just before the break, when Petar Andric received the ball on the turn and slammed it into the left corner, leaving Harrison with no chance.
After the restart, Thwaites made an immediate impact off the bench to level the game. Mantato beat his marker on the right wing, fired a shot past the goalkeeper and back to Thwaites inside the area who fired it wide.
Despite dominating most of the second half, Dynamo suffered a bitter blow when they scored the winner with less than 10 minutes remaining.
United went close to scoring another goal in the final seconds of the game but failed to do so, sending them out of the Mladen Ramjak Memorial Tournament final for the second year in a row.
But it was a great experience. Now they have enjoyed plenty of football and Adam Lawrence’s side are ready for the league season, which starts in three weeks.
United squad: 1 Harrison, 2 Carmason, 3 Kukonki, 4 McAllister, 5 Armour, 6 Devaney, 7 Mantaito, 8 T. Fletcher, 9 Biancheri, 10 Fitzgerald, 11 Bowman, 12 Mills, 13 Heath, 14 Thwaites, 15 Kabba, 16 B. Nkoto, 17 D. Nkoto, 18 Bradbury
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