Leicester has reportedly kidnapped a young star.
The Ystal Palace In a tense contest in Seagrave, the under-18s were held to a 1-1 draw. Yassin Toure’s second-half goal cancelled out Matteo Dashi’s first-half strike.
The young Eagles were back in league play two weeks after a 6-1 demolition of Liverpool in the U18 Premier League Cup, with a trip to Leicester City.
Rob Quinn made two changes to the team that defeated Liverpool, with Kai-Reece Adams-Collman and Tyler Whyte replacing Caleb Kporha and Hindolo Mustapha.
Leicester had the ball in the back of the net with less than a minute on the clock, but it was ruled off for offside against one of their forwards.
Tyler Whyte, who came off the bench for the Under-21s in their 6-2 win over Middlesbrough yesterday, had the opening chance of the game for Palace, but his header was superbly saved by Leicester goalkeeper Harry French.
Matteo Dashi gave the youthful Eagles the lead after a quarter-hour. Rio Cardines advanced from the back and threw a ball over the top for Jesse Derry to grasp onto. The winger deflected a challenge and cut back across into Dash’s path.
Palace went in search of another goal to increase their lead. The in-form skipper Zach Marsh saw two of his shots fly wide, while Dashi was thwarted by the Leicester defense on a third.
The south Londoners led at halftime but were almost caught off guard early in the second half. Jake Grante’s superb recovery tackle put Reece Evans at bay.
Leicester were knocking on the door for an equalizer early in the second half. As they piled on the pressure, Tommy Neale shot narrowly over the bar.
The hosts eventually broke through and equalized 10 minutes after the break.
Palace almost immediately replied after conceding. Cardines won the ball high up the pitch and crossed into the box. It fell to Dashi, who struck first, however his effort was blocked by the Leicester defense.
Both teams had half-chances as the game progressed, unable to find a clear break to recover the advantage. For Leicester, Reece Evans and Toby Ononaye had efforts that were no match for Billy Eastwood in the Palace goal.
Derry struck the crossbar with just over 10 minutes remaining. Seb Williams found him on the left side, and the winger flicked it over his marker before racing into the area. His shot beat the recovering defender and goalkeeper, but it was blocked.
There were no additional shots on goal as the game entered stoppage time, aside from a blocked effort from Marsh. Quinn’s team now sits second in the U18 Premier League South with seven points, two behind leaders Fulham.
Leicester: R. Evans (GK), Khela, McAlinney, Gray (Lawrence, 67), Dyke, Donnelly (Otchere, 72), Neale, Thomas, Ononaye, Toure (J. Evans, 84).
McNab (GK) and Lourieiro were not substituted.
Eastwood (GK), Adams-Collman, Grante, King, Cardines, Austin (60), Williams, Dashi (74), Whyte, Marsh, Derry (Omobolaji, 87).
