小R的天空

The Reserves' run of three successive victories was curtailed as the Reds slipped to a narrow defeat at league leaders Sunderland on Monday evening.

A first half strike from Jordan Cook snared the points for the hosts, but the Black Cats required more than a touch of luck to keep United at bay, with goalkeeper Trevor Carson in unbeatable form.

The inspired stopper was called into action as early as the eighth minute, when he had to spectacularly palm away a curling effort from Italian striker Kiko Macheda.

United's youngsters can learn a valuable lesson from veteran striker Dean Windass, according to Reserves manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Reds' second string were beaten 2-1 by a more experienced Hull City side on Tuesday evening, with Windass among the scorers, and Solskjaer cites the 39-year-old as a perfect example of the right attitude.

"We had a really young side out, but that’s no excuse," Ole told MUTV. "I think Windass and a couple of Hull’s other old lads showed the desire and the right example for these kids.

"He’s about 23 years older than my youngest player here today, but he showed the desire of any of ours. He’s a great example for everyone of how to be a professional footballer."

United’s Reserves suffered a first defeat of their Manchester Senior Cup defence, losing out in a penalty shoot-out against Bolton Wanderers.

The epic spot-kick contest, which finished 9-8 to the visitors, followed a goalless 90 minutes in which United spurned several presentable chances to seal victory.

Following on from victories over Bury and Oldham, the Reds were bidding for a third straight victory in this season’s group stage. Having overcome Bolton in last year’s final at Old Trafford and recently hammered the Trotters in the league, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were up against familiar opposition.

Visiting goalkeeper Adam Bogdan was forced into a smart save by Angolan international Manucho, who had earlier headed over the bar, while Danny Sissons almost caught out Ben Amos in one of Bolton’s rare forays forward.

United's defence of the Manchester Senior Cup continued with another solid victory, but the Reds had to come from behind to overturn Oldham Athletic.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side trailed from the third minute, when Lewis Alessandra converted from close range, but had tellingly turned the scoreline on its head by half-time, thanks to strikes from Matt James and Sam Hewson.

The Reds' starting line-up had a youthful look about it, with the likes of Scott Wootton, Oliver Gill, Cameron Stewart, Jimmy Derbyshire and James in from the off, but England international Ben Foster provided relative experience in goal.

Just three minutes had elapsed when the former Stoke City stopper was beaten, however, as Alessandra pounced on a right-wing cross to nudge the visitors into a shock lead.

Young midfielder Tom Cleverley added another goal to his collection of crackers when he scored for United's reserves against Bolton...

I think we showed good character against Bolton and played very well, certainly in the second half.

Losing to Wigan the week before was a big disappointment but our coaches Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) and Warren (Joyce) told us all good teams bounce back from defeat and we did just that.

I’ve been asked a number of times what Ole is like as a coach. He asks a lot of us in terms of work-rate but we like that, we like working hard for Ole and Warren. The technical and physical work is helping us all to improve and we’re all looking forward to the rest of the season.

United Reserves claimed a first league win under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thanks to goals from Federico "Kiko" Macheda, Sam Hewson and Tom Cleverley plus a clean sheet by senior keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

Macheda making the breakthrough at the end of a poor first half was significant; thereafter, Bolton were comfortably beaten at the County Ground in Leyland, scene of United's Lancashire Senior Cup triumph over Liverpool.

David Gray, a scorer in that final and in last week’s reserve league defeat at Wigan, filled in for James Chester as centre-back and skipper. Gray’s right-back berth was occupied by Rafael while Oliver Gill, an imposing centre-half in the Under-18s, made his reserve league debut at left-back.

The game started at a frenetic pace but the first real chance didn’t arrive until the 9th minute. With Bolton threatening to score, Kuszczak came off his line to dive at the feet of Temitope Obadeyi and when the ball broke to Nathan Woolfe, Richard Eckersley blocked the shot brilliantly.