Some Manchester United fans are raving about Arnau Puigmal’s stunning free-kick and feel that the club’s academy is better than the first-team.
The United Under-23s side picked up an impressive 4-1 win over the Middlesbrough Under-23s late night, as Tahith Chong got a brace in the second half to cap off an impressive performance.
Aliou Traore and Puigmal got the other two goals, with the latter scoring a free-kick in first-half and the former finding the back of the net in stoppage time of the first 45 minutes.
United fans have reacted positively to Puigmal’s free-kick and want more youth players in the first-team.
#MUAcademy U23s: HT – Middlesbrough 0 #MUFC 2
Arnau Puigmal's brilliant free-kick gave the Reds the lead before Matej Kovar saved Ben Liddle's penalty. In stoppage time, Puigmal scored his second from a Tahith Chong centre.
Watch the match LIVE on #MUTV: https://t.co/gph5WvdRAH pic.twitter.com/RuoEu4kxjU
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 4, 2019
Bring himm remove Andreas
— max_cal (@masir_cal) November 4, 2019
an absolute stunner!
— Wyman Kaluba (@WymanKaluba) November 4, 2019
Play him over Lingard and Pereira. Actually, play anyone over them two. Can’t possibly do any worse.
— #MUFCholic (@Timo_Utd) November 4, 2019
Wow !!
— Mickey.L.Keega (@Totzyk) November 4, 2019
Better than Pogba
— Omò Iyà Nurse (@TifeAnd) November 5, 2019
Puigmal is 18 and is Spanish by nationality. He has played nine times in all competitions for the Under-23s side this season and the free-kick against Boro was his first goal of the campaign.
Last season, the versatile right-sided player was part of the Under-18s side. He played 20 times in all competitions, scoring once and assisting four times.
With United currently languishing at tenth in the Premier League table, ten points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. They are also 18 points behind table-toppers Liverpool, who they played out a draw against two weeks ago.
The United Under-23s are currently second in the Premier League 2 Division 2 table, just two points behind West Ham United.
What do we think?
United have already given some game time to youngsters like Mason Greenwood, James Garner, Brandon Williams, Angel Gomes and Chong. But it will be unrealistic to expect Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to play too many youngsters in a season, even though the first-team performances have not been too impressive.
United have had the second-lowest average age in a Premier League game this season, standing at 24.5 years old. That should be enough to prove that Solskjaer is already placing trust in enough younger players.