Man Utd starlet Gabriel hits two stunners as U18s beat Notts Forest 5-2

A Manchester United youngster hit a double as the U18s came out on top 5-2 in a thumping victory over Nottingham Forest.

JJ Gabriel hit two, with Jay McEvoy, Louie Bradbury and Noah Ajayi also on the scoresheet as United came out on top.

McEvoy opened the scoring midway through the first half, before Gabriel extended the advantage with two sensational long-range strikes in the space of five minutes.

Louie Bradbury nodded in a fourth on the other side of half-time, before Riko Robinson pulled one back from the penalty spot.

Ajayi quickly restored the four-goal gap, but it was cut back down to three in the last ten minutes by a Basima Balagizi tap-in.

Darren Fletcher's side did eventually get rewarded for their strong start when some strong pressing by Bradbury led to a loose pass from the keeper and seized by McEvoy for the opener.

Then Gabriel rocketed a long-distance strike towards the top-left corner, clipping the underside of the crossbar before bouncing over the line.

Then he curled an effort from outside of the penalty area into the opposite corner for his second.

After the break and Brown skipped away from his marker on the right flank, before he found Bradbury in the centre to confidently nod home our fourth.

Kai Rooney, joining as a substitute after playing on an adjacent pitch for our Under-16s the same morning, rocketed an effort towards the goalkeeper just past the hour mark. He parried it as far as Gabriel, who went in search of his third but dragged the shot wide.

Shortly after Ajayi found the playmaker again inside the box, and this time Gabriel rattled the crossbar with his shot.

Ajayi gave away a penalty heading into the last 15 minutes, tripping Zyan Blake inside the box, which allowed Robinson to convert from the spot, sending Cameron Byrne-Hughes the wrong way.

The winger quickly atoned for that momentary lapse, however, when he rushed up to the other end moments later, cut in from the left and squeezed a shot between Graham and his near post to make it five.

Forest's Blake was once again involved shortly after that, this time from the visitors' left, racing to the byline to find a squared pass to Balagizi, who cut our advantage back down to three with a tap-in as we entered the final 10 minutes.

There was a quick burst of momentum for our opponents following their second, but it proved too little, too late for any true sense that a comeback was on.

The referee's final whistle blew not long after, confirming another three points for Fletcher's charges in the U18 Premier League.