FRISCO, Texas -- Twin brothers William and Michael Keane each scored a goal in Sunday night's Dallas Cup headliner to give the Manchester United Reserves a 2-0 win over the FC Dallas U-18 Academy. The Keane brothers have been fixtures in Manchester's Reserve side recently, and each have already made their first team debuts under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The home side was able to apply some early pressure in the match, but the Red Devils developed a nice counter in the 10th minute that ended with a cross from the left flank finding William in the FC Dallas box. It was an easy finish for the young striker, who coolly placed the shot past U-17 World Cup champion goalkeeper Richard Sanchez for the early 1-0 lead.
Despite the deficit, FCD stuck to their style and soon established possession that they maintained for the majority of the remainder of the half.
United got another early goal in the second half, this one coming off of a set piece. In the 52nd minute, the English side earned a corner kick that Luke Giverin delivered from the left side. The service found the head of defender Michael Keane, who put in his squad's second of the night. After the match the Keanes said it was the third time they'd both scored in the same game in a Manchester United kit.
Following the second goal, Dallas once again played their possesssion style and put together a handful of scoring chances, but none found their way past goalkeeper Samuel Johnstone. After the match, striker William praised FC Dallas for their possession and pressure.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," said Keane. "We knew they'd get the crowd behind them and they were a good passing team. They kept the ball well and put us under a lot of pressure"
The U-18s will try to rebound tomorrow afternoon when they face Tigres on Richland College's Field 10. It will be a well-rested Tigres side, who had Sunday off after day one opponent CS Cartagines of Costa Rica dropped out of the tournament at the last minute. Cartagines has been replaced in Bracket A of the Gordon Jago Super Group by California club Santa Clara Sporting. Tigres will make up their day one game against Santa Clara on Tuesday.
Other FC Dallas results at Dallas Cup XXXIII
The U-16 Academy team picked up a comeback win over a shorthanded Ottawa South United Academy in the U-17 bracket. The U-16s went down early after Ottawa scored off a counter in the fourth minute before Victor Portillo tied the game in the 14th by putting in his own rebound. Ottawa went down a man late in the first half and Jordan Cano scored in the 67th minute to hand Dallas the 2-1 win.
Also in the U-17 bracket, the 95 Premier team handed Beijing Yicheng a 2-0 loss off goals by Haiden Stiles and Dawson French. Goalkeeper Josh Neito came up with some big saves late in the first half to keep the clean sheet.
The U-14 Pre Academy team got a big win in the U-15 bracket, beating RCL Monterrey 6-1. The 98 Premier team also came up big in the U-14 bracket with Sebastian Venegas, Stephen Gonzales, Fino Garcia and Jonah Asher all scoring in the 4-1 win, while the 99 Central team suffered a 4-2 loss to Tigres in the U-13 bracket.
For more info and schedules of all the FCD teams at Dallas Cup XXXIII, visit our page here.