The report

A brilliant match full of quality ended with Chelsea on the winning side thanks to a late goal, having briefly looked like we had surrendered the three points at Kingsmeadow.

A strong start from the Blues resulted in a 2-0 half-time lead after 18-year-old striker Donnell McNeilly had marked his full debut for our Under-21s with a brace. He could even have had a hat-trick, first getting the ball in the net after just five minutes, pouncing on a deflected Harrison McMahon effort, but it was ruled out for offside.

As it was, McNeilly opened the scoring after half-an-hour, reacting quickest when Manchester United keeper Elyh Harrison spilled Dylan Williams' cross, before adding to his tally by finishing a fine team move by turning in Zak Sturge's low cross.

Shola Shoretire struck back for United after the break, drawing them level with a brace of solo goals, but the Blues weren't finished there. Winger Tyrique George came off the bench to win it for Chelsea in the 91st minute with a brilliant strike of his own, cutting in from the left and curling into the top corner.

The reaction

The way Chelsea began the game was particularly enjoyable for head coach Mark Robinson, even though there were still areas they could have improved on.

'It was a really enjoyable game,' said Robinson. 'We started with really good intensity, could have scored two goals quite early on with good one-on-one situations. Then it became a little bit transitional, we turned the ball over a little bit cheaply a couple of times.

'We always want the boys to carry a threat and transition quickly, but on a couple of occasions when Man United got back in shape we could have recognised that and had a little bit more control.

'We forced things a couple of times, but on the whole it was a really good half and we were really pleased to be going in 2-0 up, although Max [Merrick] pulled off a fantastic save to keep it that way.'

Unfortunately that advantage only lasted 15 minutes of the second half, as the familiar issue of not being able to hold a lead we had worked hard to earn in the first period reappeared against Manchester United, meaning Robinson was left with mixed emotions at the final whistle.

'It's been our Achilles heel so at half-time you don’t want to talk about it too much because you could always talk yourself into it happening again, so I let the boys talk as much as possible in terms of what we were going to do.

'When you’re winning at half-time the opposition are always going to come out at you on the front foot, so the boys knew what was coming. That was the one disappointing part of the night, that it still remains something we’ve got to work on.

'They did come out very strong, but at the same time you have to find a way to ride out those 10 or 15 minutes and then, once you do, all of a sudden a 2-0 can end up being a 3-0 and an emphatic win.

'Unfortunately we didn’t do that. I told the boys sometimes you just need to hit your frontman and play off him to relieve that pressure. You have to find a way to take the sting out of it and we didn’t quite do that.

'The pleasing thing, though, was how we reacted after that. I changed shape within that which helped us a little bit, gave us a bit of added momentum and natural width, because our wing-backs got pinned in a little bit, so the change to 4-3-3 got us higher up the pitch. But to be honest the boys reacted well even before that.

'So it was a great reaction and I thought we ended up deserving the win because we got back on top and created some good chances. And to win it in the style we did, with such a great goal, was really pleasing.'

Robinson was also pleased to see some of the younger members of his side having an impact, including goalscorers George and McNeilly, as well as midfield duo McMahon and Kiano Dyer.

'Tyrique’s had a number of games now. Donnell’s been coming off the bench, but he started this game and did really well, scoring two goals on his first start was great. They were both excellent, but all the boys were.

'The two young lads in midfield, Kiano and Harrison, were outstanding. In fact the whole midfield three were good, Leo [Castledine] was very good until he had to come off.

'Having seven Under-18s in the starting line-up against a more experienced side is really promising and it was definitely a step in the right direction. We’ve just got to work because we want to see some of these 1-0s and 2-0s turn into a comfortable win with a clean sheet. That is the next step.'

The teams

Chelsea 3-2 Manchester United

Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Max Merrick; Kaiden Wilson (Richard Olise 73), Billy Gee (c), Ishe Samuels-Smith; Dylan Williams, Harrison McMahon, Kiano Dyer, Zak Sturge (Zain Silcott-Duberry 73); Leo Castledine (Michael Golding 72); Jimmy-Jay Morgan (Tyrique George 73), Donnell McNeilly
Unused sub: Luke Campbell
Scorers: McNeilly 32, 45+5, George 90+1
Booked: Sturge 42, Gee 62, George 90+1, McNeilly 90+2, Williams 90+4

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Elyh Harrison; James Nolan (Toby Collyer 45+1), Sonny Aljofree, Rhys Bennett, Sam Murray; Maxi Oyedele (Ruben Curley h-t), Tom Huddlestone; Shola Shoretire (c), Isak Hansen-Aaroen (Charlie McNeill 79), Sam Mather; Ethan Wheatley
Unused subs: Dermot Mee, Finley McAllister
Scorer: Shoretire 53, 60
Booked: Murray 76