LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: Yunus Akgun of Leicester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Leicester City and Birmingham City at The King Power Stadium on January 27, 2024 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ben Petty of Leicester City’s Development Squad says the team’s advancement to the Premier League Cup knockout stages is an incredible feat.
Wanya Marçal, Silko Thomas, and Oliver Ewing all scored goals as the Foxes youth team defeated Brentford B 3-2 on Friday night to advance to the under-21 championship round at LCFC Training Ground.
In a stunning comeback, Leicester finished as group runners-up after winning all three of their remaining games.
City’s coach commented after full-time: “I thought it was a really good performance, especially in the first half. To get a two-goal lead was a great effort. To think that we lost the first three games of this competition and now we’ve qualified with three straight wins is a great accomplishment by the lads.
“We’re all delighted in there. We get a knockout game now, and anything can happen. Our performances over the last four to six weeks have been excellent. We’ve lacked goals, but we got three tonight, which is a plus. I thought it was a great game of football tonight.”
Having established a two-goal lead, the visitors hit back courtesy of Iwan Morgan’s goal just after the break and reduced the deficit to one again late on, via Kyreece Lisbie’s strike. City saw it out, though, and will take that momentum into their upcoming Premier League 2 clash on Friday.
Petty Pleased To Progress In PL Cup
Ben Petty summarised a good night’s work from Leicester City’s Development Squad as they saw off Brentford to secure a place in the Premier League Cup last-16.
“It was tough,” Petty explained. “At half-time things looked as though they were quite comfortable, but in the second half, Brentford came strong. That’s football for you. They went very, very direct and played for set plays.
“They were dangerous and it’s difficult to defend against and fair play to them. They gave us a right game. It was a bit too close for comfort for me tonight, but, overall, I think we thoroughly deserved the win.
“It gives us great confidence moving forward. We played on Monday against Southampton and we just couldn’t really get the ball in the net. To score three is great for the confidence of the team and that gives us a good boost for next Friday against Sunderland.”
