Player Ratings: Brackley Town 2-1 Manchester United U21s | OneFootball

Manchester United U21s opened their National League Cup campaign with an away loss to Brackley Town, in a match that went down to the wire.

Here are our player ratings for the match. Read the detailed match report of all the action here.

(A score of 6 is around average)

Will Murdock – 6 – Made one good save in the second half but was untroubled for the most part. Maybe disappointed he let their second goal squirm underneath him but he had a poor view of the shot due to a highly congested area in front of him.

Jaydan Kamason – 7 – Was the focal point of United’s attack throughout the match, doing well to get very high up the pitch and pin Brackley back. He had the beating of his marker every time and delivered some dangerous crosses but ultimately found it tough to find a teammate in the area with Brackley sitting so deep. Almost scored himself when he cut inside onto his left but was denied by a top save.

Rhys Bennett – 5.5 – A lapse in concentration early on saw him give the ball away for Brackley’s opening goal and had a couple of other shaky moments early on. Improved in the second half as he pushed high up to the right and linked well with Kamason.

Dan Armer – 6.5 – Impressed, particularly on the ball, with passes through the lines to find attackers with the ball to feet.

Bendito Mantato – 6 – Started the match well, bombing down the left wing and forced a good save from the keeper. But drifted out of it as the match went on and didn’t get as high up the pitch as Kamason, which was disappointing as he is more adept as a winger.

Jacob Devaney – 7 – Made a few sloppy passes early on but really took a leadership role and led from the back in the second half. Dropping between the centre backs, he was the driving force as United completely pinned Brackley in their own half. His passing was good but even better were his driving runs through the midfield.

Tyler Fletcher – 6.5 – A solid but unspectacular performance, he played his role as United controlled the midfield. Had a good effort from long range and did well tracking back to cut out rare Brackley attacks.

Gabriele Biancheri – 6 – Made good runs to find space and held the ball up well but operating from the right wing meant his good bits of play were often outside the box rather than in dangerous areas. When he did drift inside though he did well to win two headers above much taller defenders but will be left wondering how he didn’t score his second chance.

Jim Thwaites – 7.5 – Improved as the match went on in his first ever competitive match against senior opposition. By the end of the match he was pulling the strings in attack with clever turns and feints to open space inside the Brackley half. Provided dangerous deliveries into the box including an assist for Devaney’s goal but easily could have had another assist or two if not for the Brackley keeper. The only blemish on a great performance was his wayward pass which conceded the corner for Brackley’s second goal.

James Scanlon – 5.5 – Played one good pass to put Mantato through but had little impact on the overall match with the play largely going down the right side.

Chido Obi – 6.5 – Forced a couple of good saves early on from half chances and pressed well from the front. Hit the back of the net in the second half but it was called off for a very soft foul.

Substitutes

Samuel Lusale – 6.5 – Added extra pace to the attack in the final stages and his sensational run won the corner which produced United’s goal.

Feature image James Fearn via Getty Images

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