U18s Report: Arsenal 1 Leicester City 2

- Goals from Sim Thandi and Kairo Mitchell secured the victory in London 

- The young Foxes now sit second in the U18 Premier League second phase table 

Leicester City’s Under-18s moved up to second position in the Barclays U18 Premier League second phase table with a superb 2-1 win at Arsenal on Saturday 16 April. 

Having drawn 1-1 against West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland in their last two outings, the young Foxes headed to Arsenal for the second time this term. 

Their last trip to London saw City recover from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw thanks to strikes from Harvey Barnes and Kairo Mitchell. 

It was England Under-17s international right back Sim Thandi who gave City the lead after 17 minutes on Saturday, before Eddie Nketiah equalised for the Gunners just before the break. 

But after dominating early on in the second period, it was Leicester who went on to win the game thanks to Mitchell’s 55th-minute effort. 

Reflecting on Saturday’s clash, Under-18s manager Trevor Peake said: “The game went really well. We started off quite bright and scored midway through the first half through Sim Thandi, who has been away with England youth this season. 

“It was a fierce shot from the edge of the box, so it was great for him to get into an attacking position – he’s scored quite a few goals for the Under-16s this season. 

“Sim’s goal put us 1-0 up and the game was quite even after that. They were limited for chances until just before half-time, when we let in a simple goal, making it 1-1. 

“In the second half, we had a number of good chances before we finally scored our second goal. Kairo Mitchell scored a similar goal to the one that he did down at Arsenal earlier in the season – a left-footed strike that found the corner of the net. 

“That put us 2-1 up, but we had some hard work to do after that in terms of our defence. They were really pressing us so it was all hands to the pumps for the last 10 or 15 minutes of the game.”