U21s Report: Leicester City 4 Sunderland 2

Striker Simonas Stankevicius opened the scoring in the first half before Harry Panayiotou added a second just after the break.
Sunderland pulled one back from the spot through defender Thomas Beadling, but it took just three minutes for the Foxes to restore their two-goal advantage through winger Jack Barmby.
Another Black Cats goal, this time from Andrew Nelson, made for a tense final few minutes for City, but Panayiotou’s second goal of the fixture made it 4-2 in injury time.
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel played his first competitive match since breaking his metatarsal back in December, playing 90 minutes in the triumph, while right-back James Pearson captained the side.
Steve Beaglehole’s outfit were unbeaten in six games in all competitions going into the tie and were buoyed by their 1-0 victory over current U21 Premier League champions Chelsea last time out.
Both sides sat on 19 points heading into the clash and while only three points separated Leicester and Sunderland from the bottom two, a win for either team could move them up to as high as fourth in the table.
Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore, who impressed in City’s 1-0 league defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light back in October, saw an early chance fall his way, but the forward couldn’t get a clean contact on the ball and miscued his shot.
After a good spell of possession from the hosts, it was City who broke the deadlock. Jak McCourt delivered a pin-point free-kick from the left wing for Stankevicius, who tapped in from close range.
Pearson then had to be on hand to block Watmore’s low drive before Jordan Blinco lifted a 25-yard effort over the bar under pressure from Alie Sesay.
Watmore produced a neat piece of footwork to cut in from the left flank on 37 minutes before forcing Schmeichel into his first save of the evening.
City could have doubled their lead in first-half stoppage-time as Panayiotou, who scored the winning goal against Chelsea last time out, fired wide from Dodoo’s low cross – 1-0 to the Foxes at the break.
A superb start to the second half saw City make it 2-0 on 51 minutes. Ben Chilwell drilled a pass from the left into Panayiotou, who turned the ball past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for a fifth goal in his last five games in all competitions.
Defender Kieran Kennedy was on hand just minutes later, putting in a fine last-ditch challenge to prevent Blinco from getting his shot off.
Sunderland next came closest to scoring just after the hour mark as Rees Greenwood rattled Schmeichel’s bar with a decent 20-yard effort.
Schmeichel then twice denied Blinco before defender Thomas McNamee blasted the rebound over the bar from eight yards.
The visitors got themselves back into the game with 16 minutes to play. Substitute Hamza Choudhury upended Andrew Nelson in the box before Beadling stepped up and fired past Schmeichel from the spot.
But Leicester responded well and restored their two-goal cushion just three minutes later thanks to a well-taken goal from Barmby. The wideman collected a pass and rounded goalkeeper Pickford before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Sunderland rallied late on and pulled one back with three minutes to play through Nelson, but the Foxes’ defiant back line held on and it was City who would score the final goal of the game.
Substitute Brandon Fox flew down the left wing before playing the ball to Panayiotou, who turned and hammered in past Pickford to put the game beyond any doubt in injury time.
City next face Tottenham Hotspur at King Power Stadium on Monday 23 March before a tough run of fixtures against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United.
CITY: Schmeichel, Pearson (c), Chilwell, McCourt, Kennedy, Sesay, Panayiotou, Scott (Choudhury 73), Stankevicius, Barmby (Fox 90), Dodoo
SUBS NOT USED: Kipre, Smith, King
GOALS: Stankevicius 14, Panayiotou 51, 90, Barmby 77
SUNDERLAND: Pickford, Cartwright, Robson, Agnew (c), McNamee, Beadling, Watmore (Ledger 46), Smith (Embleton 86), Blinco, Lawson (Nelson 34), Greenwood
SUBS NOT USED: Robson, Talbot
GOALS: Beadling pen 74, Nelson 87
REFEREE: Anthony Tankard