United Beyond Manchester

After initially going down 1-0, Manchester United’s U18 side scored a barrage of goals to beat Chelsea 5-1 and progress to the FA Youth Cup Quarter-Finals.

The leader of the turnaround was 17-year-old Chido Obi-Martin, who bagged his second hat-trick at the U18 level this season. His first came in a 6-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest in October on his full debut.

James Scanlon, who is already a full international for the Gibraltar national team, scored the other two goals for Adam Lawrence’s side.

Chido scored the first of his goals brilliantly, as he used his pace to get behind the Chelsea back line, his strength to hold the defender off, and then finished calmly past the goalkeeper. It was the kind of goal that United fans haven’t seen at the top level in quite some time.

The other two goals were smart, where Chido used his positional intelligence to be in the right place at the right time. On the second, he got across his defender to score at the front post. The third goal completed the hat trick and was a ball that fell to his feet that he fired through traffic into the net.

After three more goals in the academy, Ruben Amorim must be considering handing Chido a first-team debut, especially considering the issues the club has faced at the striker position all season.

The club has taken a cautious approach to young Dane so far, but now is the time to give him an opportunity. The U18 level is simply no longer a challenge for Chido Obi-Martin and he deserves a chance at first-team football.