Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Richard Fay

Manchester United manager praises Alejandro Garnacho after Youth Cup brace

Travis Binnion has praised the character of Alejandro Garnacho after his brilliant performance for Manchester United in their FA Youth Cup triumph.

United secured an historic 11th Youth Cup title with a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night thanks to a goal from captain Rhys Bennett and a brilliant brace from starlet Garnacho.

The 17-year-old pounced on a defensive error to win a controversial penalty for United late in the second half, with replays showing he was outside of the box when contact was made.

READ MORE: Manchester United player ratings as Alejandro Garnacho and Rhys Bennett star in Youth Cup win

Garnacho made no mistake from the spot, though, calmly passing the ball into the net as he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

As Forest chased an equaliser, United picked them off on the break again to win the match, as Garnacho sped away from the opposition defence before firing a deflected effort into the net deep into stoppage time.

It marked the seventh goal Garnacho has scored on United's run to lift the prestigious youth competition, and after the match, manager Binnion praised his young starlet for how he handled the big occasion.

"That boy could be in any stadium in the world and he wouldn't care," Binnion told reporters. "That's his make up, and a few of them are like that, that's why they are going to have good careers."

Garnacho has already made his senior debut for the club as well as having been called up to the Argentina squad for their last batch of World Cup qualifiers earlier in the year.

At the age of 17, he is already a role model for his teammates, and Binnion is delighted to have maintained the club's traditions of nurturing such exciting young talent.

He added: "This football club is remarkable at that. It is the best in the world at that. We've got to keep that going, we've got a responsibility to keep that going, that pipeline. It's just nice to give the fans a bit of something because they are different class, aren't they?"

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.