United Review | Under 21s lose at Lincoln City

Lincoln City 3 - 0 Manchester United Under 21s

A United Under-21s side that included the twin sons of former player Darren Fletcher went down  3-0 at Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy.

Author | Josh D

Stadium | LNER Stadium

It took 16 minutes of scrappy play before Binnion’s side registered a real chance, with Scanlon forcing Lincoln goalkeeper Zach Jeacock into a smart near-post save.

Shortly after, Justin Obikwu weaved into the penalty area for the hosts, only for Will Murdock to block his effort. Murdock was called into action again soon after, this time to deny Dexter Lembikisa, who had been set up by Lincoln’s number 20.

A free-kick from Lacey struck a team-mate, Chido Obi, as the first half wore on, while Scanlon was again denied at close range as the interval approached.

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The deadlock was broken barely two minutes into the second half. Ivan Varfolomeev’s corner found Hamer, who thundered it home to give Lincoln the lead.

Lacey remained a bright spark, cutting inside and bending a left-footed effort just over the crossbar, while Fletcher’s 56th-minute strike was cleared off the line by Montsma in what was perhaps United’s best chance of the match.

Lincoln doubled their advantage with 20 minutes to go. Lembikisa found Ring at the back post, and he made no mistake, smashing the ball home off the crossbar. Hackett was then put through on goal but blazed over, missing a chance to reduce the deficit.

Rob Street went close as Skubala’s side pressed, but it was Hackett who dealt the late blow for Lincoln, calmly finishing from close range in the 88th minute after the ball came back off the post.

Murdock kept the scoreline from getting worse with a fine save to deny Street in stoppage time, while Fletcher’s late effort was pushed away by Jeacock in the game’s final action.