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 LeeÂ’s fine header cancelling out Jay SpearingÂ’s 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 RedsÂ’ squad entirely.
In his absence, UnitedÂ’s 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.
LiverpoolÂ’s traditional cautious approach made for a stifling atmosphere, but it was United who almost took the lead after 20 minutes when Sam HewsonÂ’s 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.
LetoÂ’s cross found Lucas Leiva inside the area, and his neat backheel picked out Spearing, who fired through the legs of James Chester and inside ZielerÂ’s post.
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