Manchester United suffered an injury scare in front of first team head coach Michael Carrick as in-form academy striker Chido Obi went down seconds into the match.
The 18-year-old Denmark youth international was starting against Chelsea for Manchester United’s Under 21s and he set off to close down Blues goalkeeper Max Merrick in the opening seconds.
Merrick’s powerful clearance hit Obi full force on the top of his head as he worryingly lay flat on the turf for five minutes receiving medical treatment.
Obi has been in great form for the Under 21s and has also been the starting centre forward for Under-18s boss Darren Fletcher, alongside Carrick for this one, in the FA Youth Cup.
They could only watch on with the rest of the spectators as medical staff took great care to assess Obi’s head injury, before he was able to sit up to warm applause.
Under 21s boss Adam Lawrence took no chances with the striker’s ability to play on and made the decision to bring on Victor Musa as his replacement.
The positive was that Obi was able to walk off the pitch of his own accord but there was still a great deal of concern to see the teenager depart so early into the match.
Obi looked despondent as he headed straight down the tunnel and back to the dressing room but he received words of encouragement by Lawrence before he did so.
Things went from bad to worse when United lost captain Sonny Aljofree to a head injury on the stroke of half-time.
The young centre back, who spent the first half of this season on loan at Notts County, clashed heads with Chelsea’s Justin Osagie and while Osagie was able to continue, Aljofree looked worse for wear as he joined Obi in the dressing room as per concussion protocol.
