Manchester United had to come from behind to beat Villarreal 2-1 at the Mini Estadi on matchday five in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday afternoon.

The Red Devils U19s were able to secure all three points without their inspirational winger and current Young Player of the Year, Shola Shoretire.

The England U19 international of Nigerian descent has now missed three games in a row for United's youth teams, which raises questions about his fitness as he is also not in the first team squad for the ongoing Champions League clash against Villarreal.

There was a second squad involvement for first year scholar, Maximilano Oyedele in the UEFA Youth League, but the defensive midfielder remained rooted to the bench for the entirety of ninety minutes.

Eleven minutes before halftime, Alejandro Jiménez opened the scoring with a fine header but the visitors turned things around in the second half.

McNeill leveled matters in the 62nd minute before Samuel Mather grabbed the winning goal with five minutes to go.

Shoretire scored in away matches against Young Boys and Atalanta on matchday one and four respectively.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel