Leeds United Under-23s fall to Manchester United in heartbreaking fashion at Leigh Sports Village

Mark Jackson took a young side over to Leigh Sports Village though still had the likes of Sam Greenwood, Liam McCarron and Crysencio Summerville at his disposal.

The hosts, meanwhile, looked strong on paper and included Amad Diallo on the teamsheet - a £30m January signing from Serie A and Champions League outfit Atalanta.

It was the Red Devils star man who opened the scoring after just six minutes to make his presence felt.

Martin Svidersky played an inch-perfect pass forward to cut open Leeds and the 19-year-old slotted home into the bottom corner past the onrushing Kristoffer Klaesson.

Jackson's youngsters responded to the early setback in positive fashion, opening up the hosts on a number of occasions.

Leeds finally had a deserved leveller as pressure told with Sean McGurk seeing a deflected effort loop into the back of the net.

Neil Wood's side retook the lead before the half-time interval as Charlie McNeill finished off a deadly break to lift the ball over Klaesson who was again left exposed.

The Whites began the second half on the front foot and three substitutions in Summerville, Stuart McKinstry and Leo Hjelde made a difference.

Leeds again hauled themselves back into the game as Max Dean kept a ball alive inside the box.

His backheel fell to Nohan Kenneh who rushed to the edge of the area to shoot and his strike took a deflection before landing inside the post.

Jackson's side pushed on in search of a winner and almost found one through the head of Charlie Allen as Greenwood also forced a strong save from Matej Kovar.

It was the hosts, though, who had the final say as Diallo popped up with a stunning individual goal three minutes from time.

The forward showed why he was worth the fee demanded for his services, jinking one way then another before flicking the ball up left and right to find the winner required to separate the two teams.

The defeat signalled a sixth league outing without a win for Leeds.

Manchester United XI: Kovar, Jurado, Wellens, Mengi, Bennett, Svidersky, Diallo, Mainoo, McNeill (Garnacho 75), Wansen-Aarden, Elanga. Subs: Kambwala, Mee, Ennis.

Leeds United XI: Klaesson, Moore, Mullen, Kenneh, McCarron (Hjelde 60), Jenkins, Allen, Miller (McKinstry 60), McGurk (Summerville 60), Greenwood, Dean. Subs not used: Van den Heuvel, Hughes.