FA Youth Cup Report: Leicester City 1 Manchester City 2

Trailing 3-0 from the First Leg, the young Foxes put in a spirited display in front of the Blue Army, and took the lead on 69 minutes thanks to a penalty from Layton Ndukwu.
But as Trevor Peake’s outfit pushed forward late on, Man City hit the hosts on the break, and goals in injury time from Isaac Buckley Ricketts and Brandon Barker sealed a 5-1 aggregate victory, meaning the Citizens will go on to play Chelsea in the final of the prestigious competition.
The visitors mounted an early siege on the young Foxes’ goal, with captain Kean Bryan going closest on five minutes with a 25-yard drive that had to be tipped over by Max Smith-Varnham.
Just five minutes later, defender Darnell Johnson called Christian Kjetil-Haug into action with a header that the shot-stopper collected with ease.
At the other end, Aaron Nemane, who netted a brace in the first leg, headed over unmarked at the back post from Barker’s left-wing delivery.
The lively Barker had opportunity of his own on 26 minutes. The wideman cut in from the left before lashing a shot across the face of Smith-Varnham’s goal.
Bersant Celina was next to threaten with a curling free kick from 30 yards that whistled past Smith-Varnham’s upright just after the half-hour mark.
City had their best chance of the first half on 39 minutes. Chilwell played a pin-point pass to Hamza Choudhury, who forced Kjetil-Haug into a superb point-blank save – goalless at the break.
Danny Rowe had two good chances to find the back of the net at the start of the second half. First, the City No.10 hammered a sweet strike agonisingly wide, before pinching the ball off Kjetil-Haug, who eventually cleared the danger after initially hesitating.
After plenty of possession, Leicester took the lead. Referee Gary Sutton pointed to the spot after Charlie Oliver handled the ball in the area, and Ndukwu slotted in from 12 yards on 69 minutes.
Smith-Varnham did well to keep City’s advantage intact, halting Buckley Ricketts in a one-on-one situation just moments later.
But the talented Angelino, who scored a hat-trick against Leicester City’s Development Squad on Saturday, picked out Buckley Ricketts, who tapped in from close range to level the game up at 1-1 in the 90th minute.
And just moments later, the game was turned on its head. The Citizens were awarded a penalty after Buckley Ricketts was brought down in the area and Barker dispatched the spot kick to put the tie beyond any doubt.
While the young Foxes will have hoped to become the first side in the Leicester City's history to make it to the final of the competition, many in attendance at King Power Stadium will certainly remember a number of the Club’s future stars, who put in battling displays across the park.
Leicester will continue their Barclays U18 Premier League campaign on Saturday 11 April with a testing trip to Sunderland.
CITY: Smith-Varnham, Miles, Chilwell (c), Choudhury, Kipre, Johnson, Bailey (Barnes 62), Fox, King, Rowe (Muskwe 74), Ndukwu
SUBS NOT USED: Knight, Bramley, Dombrauskis
GOAL: Ndukwu pen 69
MAN CITY: Kjetil-Haug, Maffeo, Humphreys-Grant, Oliver, Angelino, Bryan (c) (Bullock 90), Nemane, Wood (Buckley Ricketts 46), Celina, Garcia, Barker
SUBS NOT USED: Albinson, Fernandes Cantin, Dilrosun
GOALS: Buckley Ricketts 90, Barker pen 90
REFEREE: Gary Sutton