Mpanzu taps United one foot into Jersey Mike's Round of 38
Sierra Leone internationals, Sullay Kaikai and Ra'ees Bangura-Williams both return to the starting lineup after competing in their first two AFCON qualifiers. Harris reverted to a back 4, with Bauer and Watts the two centre backs with Heffernan playing right back. The midfield saw Hoddle earn his first start of the season after breaking his foot in the summer.
The opening moments of the game were fueled by a clear notion of nothing silly by either manager. Northampton looked to switch the ball to the opposite full back with ever chance they had whilst the United gameplan looked to be get the ball in the air and find Gassan Ahadme's head.
The U's first promising attack came through great build up from Bradshaw across to Heffernan. A lovely 1-2 between the Sierra Leone internationals Kaikai and Bangura-Williams looked to trouble the Cobblers backline but a well timed block saw the ball go behind for a corner.
Despite weathering the storm in the opening 20 minutes, the U's were able to build into the game and start getting joy from both wingers Kaikai and Heath. Isaac Heath made a Northampton defender touch earth after using his flair to get past him and ultimately found a better way to punish the Northampton backline. A fantastic run from the summer signing found him in acres of space as he approached the penalty box. Mpanzu's run was blistering, a true box crashing midfielder type run we see Bellingham do week in week out for Real Madrid, which was picked out by Mpanzu. Mpanzu, just a mere 10 yards out from goal calmly slotted past Jeacock in goal and half an hour in the U's were on top.
Both sides made changes at the half time break with Harris bringing George Hoddle off for Moxon whilst Northampton replaced Evans and Briggs for Hoskins and Dyche. For the first time this season, Neil Harris had his side come out the tunnel first and two minutes early.
The changes paid off immediately for Chris Hogg's side as just five minutes into the second half, quick and direct play down the left hand side saw Powell's cross find Warhurst who didn't overthink the finish as he slotted easily past Breeze.
The U's took back the league just 10 minutes later from 12 yards out. A Kaikai corner found the referee, Aaron Farmer's, whistle as he awarded the U's a penalty in front of the NRE. Ahadme took the opportunity to add to his goal tally as he sent Jeacock the wrong way and rolled the ball into the back of the net to give United the lead once more.
Unfortunately for the goal scorer, he was immediately brought off for Lavery whilst Bauer and Kaikai also made way for Ball and Knight. Dom Ball came on for Bauer and played the remaining 30 minutes as a centre back.
Dan Herd replaced Bangura-Williams with 15 minutes to play. The youngster came on to play right back as Harris reverted out of his 4-3-3 into a 5-4-1. It wasn't a pretty last 15 minutes, you would have thought it was a tennis game the way the fans heads were moving trying to follow the ball. Ultimately, the U's stood strong and got all three points to make it 7 consecutive games without a loss. The first time United have done that whilst participating in League One since January 2022, when Mark Bonner was the manager and the back 4 consisted of Dunk, Iredale, Okedina and Williams with Wes Hoolahan starting in the 10.
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