Danish-born Nigerian striker Chido Obi made his professional debut for Manchester United in their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday evening.
United, struggling with an injury crisis that ruled out Mason Mount, Lisandro Martínez, Luke Shaw, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, and Toby Collyer, included several academy players in the squad, with Obi among those making the trip to North London.
There had been indications that the 17-year-old was in contention for a place in the matchday squad after he trained with the senior team in the build-up to the fixture. Wearing the number 44 jersey, he was introduced in the 90th minute, replacing Casemiro in what turned out to be United's only substitution of the game.
Obi's debut comes on the back of an outstanding display for Manchester United's youth team, where he scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory over Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup. That performance took his goal tally for the season to 15 across all competitions, further enhancing his reputation as one of the club's most promising young talents.
Despite Obi's introduction, United could not salvage a point as James Maddison's 13th-minute goal proved to be the match-winner. The English midfielder slotted home the rebound after Andre Onana had initially denied Lucas Bergvall's effort.
The defeat leaves United in 15th place in the Premier League table with 29 points after 25 matches, while Tottenham climbed to 12th with 30 points.
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