Salford City FC began their pre-season preparations with a magnificent battling draw against Manchester United Under 21s at Moor Lane on Monday 13 July.
The Manchester United side included 21-year-old Libya-born ex-Salford defender Sadiq El Fitouri, who was scooped up by the Reds after impressing on trial at Moor Lane last season.
By Joseph Gibbons (@JoeBillGibbo)
Salford started the brighter of the two with FC United signing Shelton Payne hitting narrowly wide early on.
It didn’t take long though for some of United’s potential stars of the future to start impacting the game.
They earned a penalty after El-Fitouri went down under a challenge from Salford defender Phil Dean, with United striker Ashley Fletcher calmly slotting the ball away for a 1-0 lead.
By Joseph Gibbons (@JoeBillGibbo)
In the aftermath of the goal Salford struggled to keep the ball for any meaningful length of time but 30 minutes in broke through the tight United back line. Keeper Pereira came out a long way but the Salford forward couldn’t guide the ball home following a great run.
United went two up just before half-time, when a goalmouth scramble saw James Weir put the ball away comfortably.
United started the second half on top and were soon 3-0 up when Josh Harrop capitalised on some poor Salford defending. The away side started to dominate possession but it was the tipping point for proud Salford City.
Former United striker Danny Webber came off the bench and pulled one back with a close range finish. United didn’t create any more chances after this but always looked calm on the ball.
Salford pulled a second goal back with 20 minutes to go after a great run and long range finish from Matt Chadwick.
United thought they were seeing the game out but The Ammies had other ideas as Sam Madeley got a deserved equaliser on the stroke of full time following a great breakaway.
City face Benfica in a glamour tie on 25 July with much to prove, but Salford coaches Johnson and Morley will be pleased with the end result as they plan to hit the ground running in their first season in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division.
