NO ROONEY and no Carrick in the Manchester United squad. There was another name on everyone’s lips.
Kai Rooney and Jacey Carrick were absent from United’s FA Youth Cup squad against Peterborough United at Old Trafford, where the highly-touted JJ Gabriel introduced himself with the only goal of the third round tie.
Gabriel, who turned 15 in October, scored in the 22nd minute to continue his stratospheric rise and become United’s youngest scorer in FA Youth Cup history in the process.
United winger Nathaniel Junior Brown laid the ball off to the edge of the area, Gabriel opened up his body and steered the ball into the corner of the net with a first-time side-footer.
That is now 11 goals in 12 games for Gabriel, scorer of a recent hat-trick against Liverpool’s Under 18s, this term.
Wearing the number 10, Gabriel had highlights in his hair and ensured his goal would be the highlight of the night.
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The playmaker is at an age where he most schoolboys would be having a sit-down with their career advisor. It is safe to say that Gabriel will give that meeting a swerve.
Gabriel is only in Year 10 at school – the year before his GCSEs. His Instagram following is homing in on the 300,000 mark and he became a Nike client at the age of 11.
He is already wanted by Barcelona, who are said to be confident of prising him away from United.Â
United deem Gabriel so valuable that director of football Jason Wilcox took measures to retain him for at least two more years.
Ruben Amorim has also held a separate meeting with Gabriel, who has already trained with the first team on two occasions this season.
Gabriel was so excited to stride out onto the Old Trafford turf he almost forgot to shake hands with the officials before kick-off.
He had to wait nearly five minutes for his first touches of the ball and lost it inside his own half amid pressure from an opponent.
A minute later, Gabriel was exhibiting step-overs right in front of the small pocket of supporters huddled inside the 75,000-seater stadium.
Twelve minutes in, Fletcher instructed Gabriel to drop deeper to get on the ball quicker. He had a shot blocked on 20 minutes shortly before his elegant opener beyond the reach of goalkeeper Ben Westcott.
The One Show might have been a more appealing draw for the 7pm slot until Gabriel perked up the tiny crowd of 1,378.
Gabriel is the only starter who could come close to being considered a household name in their teens yet more than half of the United starting line-up have already trained with the first team.
Sometimes, Gabriel’s selfishness got the better of him. He shanked one shot well wide when substitute Samuel Lusale was better positioned. Lusale let him know he had erred.
Rooney, Carrick and Fletchers are on United’s books again yet those teenagers are a way off from emulating the title-winning pedigree of their fathers.
Darren Fletcher, now United’s Under 18 coach, partly accepted the role as his twin sons Jack and Tyler now play for the under 21s.
Kai Rooney made his return from injury at the weekend for United’s under 16s while Carrick made his U18s debut against Newcastle.
There was such little demand for tickets that the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand – Old Trafford’s only one-tiered stand – was opened while all other three sides remained shut.
Fans who attended only filled up around a third of that side of the ground, many of them family members or agents of the players.
United striker Louie Bradbury scuffed wide a presentable third-minute chance after a mix-up inside the Peterborough penalty area.
It was not a vintage Youth Cup showing from a club that has won the tournament only once since the Paul Pogba Class of 2011.
United ‘keeper Cameron Byrne-Hughes kept admirably to keep out Jariyah Shah’s shot in the 67th minute as League One Posh threatened an equaliser.
Bradbury squandered another opportunity from Gabriel’s deft flick on 39 minutes. Fletcher checked if Gabriel was all right to continue after he was caught by a late challenge.
Gabriel did without treatment until he was substituted in the 88th minute.Â
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