Reserves: United 1 Liverpool 1
Kieran Lee headed a late equaliser as United grabbed a point from
an ill-tempered affair with local rivals Liverpool at the Victoria
Stadium.
United burst into life in the final 20 minutes of what had been a
largely uneventful match, with Lees fine header cancelling out Jay
Spearings first-half opener for the visitors.
It had been widely expected that Gary Neville would step up his
rehabilitation against the Merseysiders, but the club captain was
left out of the Reds squad entirely.
In his absence, Uniteds young team took on an even more youthful
look, with Academy star Danny Welbeck making the step up to the
bench and Chris Fagan coming into the starting XI.
Liverpools traditional cautious approach made for a stifling
atmosphere, but it was United who almost took the lead after 20
minutes when Sam Hewsons shot was blocked by Lee.
Sebastian Leto then drew a smart save from Ron-Robert Zieler in
response, and Liverpool continued to enjoy the better of the
opening half until they took the lead through Spearing.
Letos cross found Lucas Leiva inside the area, and his neat
backheel picked out Spearing, who fired through the legs of James
Chester and inside Zielers post.
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