In a game that was nicely poised, the Red Devils came out on top leaving Chelsea with a vital game against Everton next Friday where anything less than three points might not be enough to retain our place in the PL2.

United pressure but good opportunities

The early moments of the game saw us control possession well, a feature of Myers’ side throughout this season. Joe Haigh, who was rewarded with a start after his cameo against Liverpool last week, had our first chance of the game as he blazed over.

Manchester United did remind our boys of their threat and exactly why they are currently sitting high in the table as D’mani Mellor almost opened the scoring for the home side as his shot only just fell wide.

Following our good spell of possession it was the home side who looked more like scoring as a number of vital blocks from our defenders and a Lucas Bergstrom save prevented United from taking the lead.

Premier League 2 Player of the Month nominee Dion Rankine almost found the net as he used his speed to find space and unleash a shot which the United stopper saved well.

Comeback needed

Charlie Wellens stung the gloves of Bergstrom as both sides continued to have opportunities to break the deadlock.

In what has occurred in two of the last three games, we went a goal behind first. Halfway through the opening period a loose ball, following a Humphreys slip, was pounced upon by the Red Devils. A great pass from Mellor found Garnacho who was on hand to turn the ball in and give Manchester United the lead.

With comebacks being a characteristic of our young Blues this season, another one would be needed here again this evening.

Tough half

The second half meandered by with our development squad struggling to get a foothold in the game.

The home side looked more likely to score, and Emeran smashed a free-kick which rattled Bergstrom’s crossbar.

It was not until we reached the hour mark that Chelsea had our biggest moment of the game. Haigh went agonisingly close to levelling the score, but he could not divert his effort on target.

On the other side, Alvaro Fernandez and Mellor had chances to double United’s lead, but Bergstrom was positionally excellent both times and made good saves.

In a game of fine margins, it was our young Blues who found themselves on the losing side as we struggled to create anything of note as the game closed out.

Next week’s fixture against Everton is a crucial game if we are to beat the drop from the PL2.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Lucas Bergstrom; Brodie Hughes (Xavier Simons 45), Josh Brooking, Bashir Humphreys (c), Dylan Williams; George McEachran (Charlie Webster 55), Thierno Ballo (Jude Soonsup-Bell 77); Harvey Vale, Dion Rankine, Joe Haigh; Jayden Wareham.

Unused Subs: Xavier Mbuyamba, Teddy Sharman-Lowe.Booked: Xavier Simons 57.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Ondrej Mastny; Charlie Wellens, Will Fish, Bjorn Hardley, Alvaro Fernandez; Zidane Iqbal, Martin Svidersky; Noam Emeran (Connor Stanley 85), Shola Shoretire, Alejandro Garnacho (Daniel Gore 90+2); D’mani Mellor.Unused Subs: Radek Vitek, Jose Piedrahita, Maximillian Oyedele.Scorers: Alejandro Garnacho 36.Booked: Shola Shoretire 27; Will Fish 45+1.