U21s Report: Phillips brace sees five-star Palace dispatch Man United

Summary

• Paddy McCarthy made eight changes to the side which beat Brighton four days ago

• David Omilabu opened the scoring in the sixth minute

• John-Kymani Gordon doubled the lead for the young Eagles just after the half hour mark

• Charlie Savage pulled one back for Man Utd in added time of the first-half

• Half-time: Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace

• Rob Street headed home a third for Palace straight after the restart

• Killian Phillips notched the fourth five minutes later

• Omilabu and Phillips rattled the crossbar in quick succession in the 70th minute

• Phillips secured his brace three minutes from time with a near post header

• Full-time: Manchester United 1-5 Crystal Palace

Four day on from the opening day 3-2 victory over rivals Brighton & Hove Albion at Selhurst Park, the young Eagles were on the road to face Manchester United in their first away game of the season.

Paddy McCarthy made wholesale changes to the side, with only Owen Goodman, Jake O’Brien and skipper Jack Wells-Morrison keeping their spots in the starting XI. New signing Seán Grehan made his debut at the heart of the defence.

In the sweltering heat at the Leigh Sports Village, the young Eagles got off to a flying start. A floated free-kick into the box was met by the head of O’Brien and sent back across goal which Dermot Mee in the Man United goal parried away back into the path of David Ozoh.

The midfielder, who recently signed his first pro contract, headed the ball back into David Omilabu’s path and the forward pivoted and finished past the scrambling United defence to give Palace the lead in the opening six minutes.

Both sides were evenly matched after Omilabu’s opener. Palace were passing and probing to find a second, whilst United were looking to find a foothold in the game.

Mateo Mejia had the pick of the chances for the hosts, firstly firing just wide on the half hour mark, and then curling a long-range effort just past the post shortly afterwards.

United were left to rue their missed chances as just after the half-hour mark John-Kymani Gordon doubled Palace’s lead. The striker was played in by an excellent Killian Phillips through ball and was one on one with Will Fish, before curling an excellent finish in towards the far post.

Gordon almost secured a brace within a minute, finding himself in a similar position, though this time his effort was saved by Mee and an onrushing Omilabu poked the ball just wide.

Palace looked to go into the half with a two goal cushion, however an excellent finish from Charlie Savage saw the hosts halve the deficit in first-half stoppage time.

Man United came racing out the blocks in the second-half as they looked to find a way back into the game. Omari Forson had a curling effort from around 25-yards out within seconds of the restart, though it didn’t trouble Goodman in the Palace goal.

With their first attack of the second-half, the young Eagles restored their two goal cushion. Rob Street ghosted in at the far post to get on the end of a perfectly flighted Gordon cross and headed in from close range.

Palace were in complete control after restoring the two goal buffer. Just four minutes later, a floated ball in from left-back Noah Watson wasn’t dealt with by the United defence and Phillips slid in to find a fourth for the young Eagles.

The south Londoners were running riot in Manchester after notching their fourth. Gordon nearly found the top corner with a curling effort from 20-yards out, whilst both Phillips and Omilabu hit the crossbar with 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

With just over three minutes remaining on the clock, Phillips managed to put the icing on the cake with a fifth for Palace. A dangerous corner from Wells-Morrison was whipped in with pace towards the near-post and Phillips’ textbook glancing header nestled in the side netting.

The referee brought an end to proceedings after five minutes of stoppage time to cap off a fantastic performance from Paddy McCarthy’s side. Though it is early doors, they now sit top of the Premier League 2 Division 1 with two wins out of two.

Manchester United: Mee, Wellens, Pye, Hardley, Fish, Mainoo, Forson, Savage, Mejia (Jurado, 76), Hansen-Aaroen (McNeill, 66), Shortire (Emeran, 66).

Subs not used: Wooster, Fredricson.

Crystal Palace: Goodman, Rodney, O’Brien, Grehan, Watson (Mooney, 88), Ozoh, Wells-Morrison, Omilabu (Balmer, 80), Phillips, Gordon (Akinwale, 80), Street (Ola-Adebomi, 88).

Subs not used: Shala.

Football Dreams: The Academy, a documentary about the Palace Academy, airs from 21:00 on Thursday, 11th August in the UK only. Find out more here.