A young City side gave a battling performance against a Manchester United side packed with internationals and almost £50m worth of talent at Ewen Fields this evening.
In their first competitive fixture at their new home, the Blues went ahead on 11 minutes through Alex Nimely and looked the better side for most of the first half, but a brace from Frederico Macheda and another from Tom Cleverley proved decisive on the night as the Reds triumphed 3-1.
With the Reds boasting the talents of Chris Smalling, Wes Brown, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville, Anderson, Macheda, Darren Gibson and Rafael , City had only Greg Cunningham and Abdi Ibrahim with senior experience.
A crowd of just under 1,600 gathered for the Manchester Senior Cup tie and with Blues’ boss Robert Mancini in the stands, City started brightly and took the lead with a 20-yard daisy-cutter from Nimely beating Ben Amos in the United goal on 11 minutes.
While the Blues looked dangerous every time they went forward, United offered little in return.
The impressive Jeremy Helan gave Neville a torrid time down the left for the first half hour and it seemed just a matter of time before Andy Welsh’s men increased their lead.
When United finally did string a decent move together, they levelled the score. Frederico Macheda turned smartly in the box, losing his marker in the process before firing a powerful drive past David Gonzalez on 37 minutes.
The match was far more evenly-contested after the break with chances at either end and both teams could have scored within the space of 60 seconds. William Keane went close with a header for United and then Alex Nimely rounded Amos but his shot was blocked.
The Reds then struck twice in the space of three minutes with Macheda again on target on 71 minutes and Tom Cleverley adding a third on 74 minutes, though Andy Welsh will have been pleased with his team’s spirit and all-round display.
