United into FA Youth Cup final: Manchester United U18s 2-1 Crystal Palace U18s

Manchester United Under-18s hosted Crystal Palace Under-18s at Old Trafford on Friday night in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals.

There was an attendance of 3,189 at Old Trafford to watch Darren Fletcher’s young Red Devils in the first of two matches with Palace in less than a week.

The two sides meet again on Wednesday in London for the Premier League Cup final.

United started the stronger of the two sides, with early chances for Yuel Helafu and Chido Obi threatening Luca Benetton in the Palace goal.

The home side had control of possession throughout the half, but the visitors threatened themselves when Ben Casey rose above the United defenders to head just wide of the right post.

The best chance of the half for either side came in stoppage time. Godwill Kukonki got to the byline and crossed for Obi to head from six yards out, but just as Casey did, Obi steered the ball the wrong side of the right post to leave the match scoreless at the break.

In the second half, Samuel Lusale was introduced just after the hour mark and made an immediate impact for United against his former club.

Lusale linked with Obi down the right wing before flashing the ball across the face of goal, which ended up just out of reach of Noah Ajayi attacking the back post.

Benetton was caught out of his goal shortly after, which saw JJ Gabriel cross to Lusale to head towards goal, but Benetton was able to recover in time to make a save off the line.

United eventually took a deserved lead in the 77th minute. Obi displayed a good bit of hold-up play before spinning between two defenders and slipping Gabriel through into the box to finish over the keeper.

– Friday, 17 April 2026

The lead was short-lived, though, as a mistake from Cameron Byrne-Hughes saw the United keeper fumble the ball, allowing for an easy finish for Raihaan Anderson.

The mistake saw a loss of confidence at the back for United, and shortly after, another mix-up ended up with Palace striking the post, but United ultimately held on to bring it into extra time.

Both sides were visibly exhausted going into extra time, and the sting came out of the match with a number of stoppages for cramps.

With penalties on the cards, Fred Heath was warming up on the sideline potentially to replace Byrne-Hughes, but the move was not needed as Obi delivered a late blow in the 117th minute.

James Overy played a curled through ball into Obi, who rounded the keeper before firing into the open net to give United the victory.

– Friday, 17 April 2026

United now advance to the FA Youth Cup final, where they will take on crosstown rivals Manchester City at the Etihad.

United: Byrne-Hughes, Helafu (Overy 98), Mills, Armer (C), Kukonki, McCormack, Thwaites, Brown (Lusale 64), Gabriel (McEvoy 110), Ajayi (Bradbury 115), Obi

Unused subs: Heath, Shah, J. Watson

Goals: Gabriel 77, Obi 117

Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images

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