Manchester United U18s suffered a 3-1 defeat to Everton in the U18 Premier League North at Carrington on Saturday afternoon.
16-year-old midfielder Jariyah Shah gave United an early lead, rifling his shot into the top-right corner, after picking up a loose ball from James Bailey’s corner.
The strike marked Shah’s first-ever goal in the U18 Premier League.
Everton nearly levelled the scores on the half-hour mark, as Ademide Akarakiri’s header was parried over the bar by goalkeeper Cameron Byrne-Hughes.
Future star JJ Gabriel had a couple of efforts to extend United’s lead, but was unable to beat Douglas Lukjancik in the Everton goal.
The Merseyside outfit thought they had restored parity in the first half stoppage time, only for Yuel Helafu to produce a goalline clearance.
United started the second half on the front foot, with Gabriel and Nathaniel-Junior Brown both squandering opportunities to get on the scoresheet.
Everton were then awarded a penalty, as Helafu brought down Ray Roberts, and the latter stepped up to convert the resultant spot-kick.
The equaliser did not halt United’s momentum, as they pushed to regain their lead.
They came close to scoring from a direct corner, while Gabriel and James Bailey were both denied by the Everton goalkeeper.
The Toffees completed the turnaround against the run of play in the 80th minute through Melvin Matos, whose low drive found the bottom-left corner.
United worked hard to restore parity before Ceiran Loney’s stoppage-time strike sealed a 3-1 victory for Everton.
The victory ends United’s five-game unbeaten run in the U18 Premier League North and leaves them four points behind leaders Manchester City, who have three games in hand.
