In Thursday's FA Cup focus battle, United's under-18 squad reached the final four with a 2-1 win over Leicester City thanks to two goals from Spanish striker Alejandro Garnacho. United have won the FA Youth Cup 10 times, the most successful team, but have not won the tournament since winning it in 2011.
Interestingly, Manchester United's opponent that year was Sheffield United, while the current manager Travis Pinnion was the assistant coach of the team that year. Eleven years later, he led Manchester United closer to the FA Youth Cup final again.
The Spanish genius Garganjo who contributed to Manchester United, who ran all over the field against Everton in the last round, overtook the defender with speed, then calmly and low shots, and finally celebrated the goal with the signature action of idol C Ronaldo, and the video was widely disseminated on social networking sites.
Leicester City's youth team is strong, and if they win the junior tournament, they can be ranked first in the Premier League Under-18 Youth League South. The Blue Foxes opened with a series of attacks on the Red Devils' goal and took the lead first.
The situation was the same as against Everton, when Manchester United, who were first behind, equalized with a free kick. Ganacho took a free-kick from the top of the penalty area and shot through the wall to deflect the ball into the goal in front of the Old Trafford West Stand. After the goal, like Ronaldo after the recent goal drought, the Spanish teenager celebrated scoring with a slip on his knees.
In the second half, the two sides came and went until two minutes before the end of the game, when it was still the 17-year-old Ganacjo, who calmly scored the winning goal in front of the goal. Teammate crossed from the right, and after Ganacho stopped the ball with his right foot, he shot from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area to complete the kill. United have managed to qualify for the semi-finals against the winner between Wolves and Brighton, and if they do, the top favourite in the other half is Chelsea.
Another attention-grabbing protagonist of the match was not on the pitch, but in the stands for United interim manager Ronnick. The 63-year-old Lonnick said he wanted to watch the youth team's FA Cup match, and this time he finally fulfilled his promise. In Manchester United's current academy system, in addition to Ganacho, there is also England striker Charlie McNeil, who scored 600 goals in the Manchester City academy, and he is the forward partner of Ganganjo in this game. But to be precise, the people that the British media pay more attention to should be the guests around Longnick. He is Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell. The British media also do not know why the two are sitting together, but Mitchell is close to Manchester United's rumored official manager Pochettino, so his appearance at the Theatre of Dreams will certainly lead to speculation.
Pochettino, who currently coaches Paris Saint-Germain, has worked with Mitchell at Southampton and Tottenham. Now, they are rumored to be joining forces again at Manchester United, with Uncle Bo and Ajax's Tenhag and Spain coach Luis Enrique and others always being popular candidates to coach Manchester United.
Interestingly, "Manchester United's new Cristiano Ronaldo" Ganacho, who must have attracted Ronnick's attention, comes from Atletico Madrid's youth system, and the Red Devils have just drawn 1-1 in the Champions League with his old club. This season, Ganganjo has made 23 appearances in the United youth team at all levels, scoring 8 goals and assisting 5 times, and playing well. It is impossible to make a first-team appearance this season, but next season there may be a chance to make a first-team debut on stages such as the English League Cup.