LCFC Advance To Soccer Sevens Quarter-Finals

- The Foxes finished second in Group D after a goalless draw with HKFA U21, a 3-0 win over Singapore Cricket Club and a 2-0 defeat to West Ham United 

- Steve Beaglehole’s outfit will face Wellington Pheonix in the quarter-finals on Sunday morning 

Leicester City booked their spot in the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens Quarter-Finals after finishing second in Group D on Saturday. 

The Foxes kicked off their involvement at Hong Kong Stadium with a goalless draw against HKFA U21 early in the afternoon, despite creating several goalscoring opportunities to win the game. 

There were plenty of positives to take from that clash and that showed in City’s second fixture of the day – a superb 3-0 victory over Singapore Cricket Club to put them top of the table. 

And while a 2-0 defeat to West Ham United followed, Steve Beaglehole’s outfit did enough to advance to the quarter-finals to set up a clash with New Zealand outfit Wellington Pheonix on Sunday morning. 

Here’s how City’s three games unfolded… 

LCFC 0 HKFA U21 0 

It was Kairo Mitchell who looked like he’d put the Foxes 1-0 up after just three minutes, but the striker saw his close-range effort ruled out. HKFA U21 responded well and it took a good save from stopper Max Bramley at the front post to keep the scores level heading into the break. Leicester dominated the second period, as Danny Rowe went close with a low drive that forced a good save out of the HKFA ‘keeper. Forward Admiral Muskwe then had two opportunities late on, first firing Hamza Choudhury’s low cross wide, before hitting the side netting from a difficult angle. 

Lead coach Steve Beaglehole told LCFC.com: “We were a little nervy at the start – everybody was expecting us to kick on right from the off. We made a change at half-time and looked like a lot more fluid unit. In that period, we created more chances than we have done in two or three games that we’ve played here before. It would have been great to win our first game, but it’s a reasonable start and now we’ve got to capitalise on that. We’ve just seen West Ham, who we play in our last group game, draw 0-0 with Singapore, and they had a very similar game to us in terms of the chances missed. Hopefully for us that’ll change in our next game.” 

Goalkeeper Max Bramley said: “The game went very quick but we got right into it and played well in the second half. We created some good chances, but HKFA are a good side, so hopefully we can get a positive result in our next game. On another day, we could have scored if we keep creating chances like that, but we got a clean sheet and we’ll take the point. We’re looking forward to our next game now.” 

LCFC 3 Singapore Cricket Club 0 

The Foxes dispatched Singapore Cricket Club in style, and it could have been more. Matty Miles got his side off to a brilliant start, firing in a low drive after just four minutes. Just a minute later, striker Admiral Muskwe doubled the City lead with a superb solo goal, as he beat two markers and hammered a shot across the ‘keeper and into the back of the net. Efforts from Harvey Barnes and Elliott Moore followed, but it was Danny Rowe who would round off the scoring with an impressive turn and strike to help secure his side their first victory of the weekend. 

Steve Beaglehole said after the game: “The difference between the first and second game was massive. We got an early goal which always helps and it was a great strike from Milesy (Matty Miles). Harvey Barnes was a real threat and we went in 2-0 at half-time after Admiral Muskwe’s goal. Elliott Moore carved out another chance and had great feet on the edge of the box and bent it into the corner – the goalkeeper saved it but it would have been the best of the lot if it went in. We looked really strong and determined and Danny Rowe scored a brilliant goal to seal the win. It’s a completely different game than back in England and the lads have showed great maturity in dealing with the conditions for such a young group.” 

Reflecting on the game, forward Danny Rowe said: “We’re all feeling good as we started out a little nervous in our first game. The early goal from Matty [Miles] settled us down and after that we were really confident and that showed with Ade’s (Admiral Muskwe) goal. I was happy to get a goal myself too. I got the ball off Harvey Barnes – I didn’t think he was going to give it to me at first! – and then turned and just hit it. 3-0 is a good result and it really helps us with our goal difference – we’re much more confident now.” 

LCFC 0 West Ham United 2 

West Ham qualified as Group D winners thanks to two goals in four first-half minutes as the Foxes were beaten for the first time in this year’s tournament. City had recorded two clean sheets heading into the game, but Alex Pike’s strike in the second minute and Grady Diangana’s effort shortly after meant it was the London outfit that would earn all three points. Hamza Choudhury, Danny Rowe, Darnell Johnson and Admiral Muskwe all had chances to reply, but the Foxes couldn’t break down a defiant West Ham defence. 

After the clash with West Ham, Steve Beaglehole said: “We weren’t resilient and didn’t manage the game well enough. Within four minutes, we conceded two goals and we didn’t need to win – a draw would have been enough. We were brilliant in our second game, but we didn’t show that against West Ham. We’re disappointed with the result and it’s been a mixed day. We should have topped the group, but now we’ll face a big Wellington Pheonix side in the quarter-finals tomorrow. There’s plenty of positives from today including the goals and the athleticism that some of our players showed.” 

Striker Kairo Mitchell said: “It was a tough game and we’re disappointed to lose in the end, but we’ve got to take the positives from it. We’re still through and hopefully we can get a good result from our next game against Wellington Pheonix in the quarter-finals. We really want to progress – we’ve got plenty of pace in our team and we’ve got some very good players, so we’re looking to return to winning ways tomorrow. It’s been a great experience so far because of the environment that we’re playing in, but I’ve really enjoyed it.” 

Be sure to check back into LCFC.com tomorrow to find out how the Foxes got on in their final day of the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens tournament.