While Erik Ten Hag is facing the headache of a number 9 in his squad, teenager Joe Hugill is turning heads with the Red Devils Under-21 following his latest goalscoring exploit during their 3-1 defeat at the hands of their counterpart Chelsea.
Erik Ten Hag has only Wout Weghorst as the only striker option available at the moment in the Manchester United's squad while Anthony Martial is still spending time with the club's medical team. Wout Weghorst is also not producing much in terms of goals.
Mason Burstow's direct shot at goal gave Chelsea an early, significant opportunity, but Radek Vitek, who was watching, came off his line quickly to make the save.
In the tenth minute, Mateo Mejia raced down the right side and nearly fooled Chelsea's goalkeeper with a cross-shot that hit the near post and behind the net.
Chelsea's Barstow had another opportunity when he handled Juan Castillo's pass and fired over the crossbar from 10 yards out.
Barstow's third time fortunate as the Chelsea forward gave the London team the lead shortly after the halfway point. Zidane Iqbal blocked a Josh Brookings cutback, which fell to Barstow, who slid it past Vitek from close range.
Iqbal had opportunities to tie the score before and after the break, but he was unable to retain both of his shots on goal.
The next to pose a danger was Brandon Williams, who connected with Kobbie Mainoo's cross and blasted a six-yard header over the crossbar.
However, Joe Hugill would ultimately score the equalizing goal. While Iqbal appealed for a penalty after being knocked over in the area.
Zidane Iqbal's corner was flicked on at the front post by Mainoo in the 75th minute, and it appeared bound for the far corner until Gabriel Slonina, a United States international, made a fantastic save.
Late in the game, Chelsea was in control and forced Vitek into a number of saves, but eventually Vitek was powerless to stop Chelsea as Leo Castledine took advantage of his brilliant denial of Harvey Vale to give Chelsea the lead.
Marc Jurado's late free kick that curled just wide of the right goal in stoppage time had spectators up from their seats. In the final seconds, Malik Mothersille was the quickest to respond to the rebound after yet another outstanding save by Vitek as Chelsea scored a third goal while United chased the equalizer.
The United u21s' first defeat of the year sees them stay middle of the table in 7th place as the final whistle blew minutes later with the final score of 1-3.
The goal against Chelsea's Under-21 is Joe Hugill's ninth goal in 9 games for the Red Devils Youth team.
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