U18s report: Arsenal 1-2 Leicester City

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WHAT HAPPENED

Our under-18s side saw a second-half lead slip to ultimately fall to defeat to Leicester City in the Premier League U18s South.

Bradley Ibrahim put us in front from the penalty spot on 57 minutes, however a brace from Foxes striker Amarni Richards saw the visitors claim the points, despite Noah Cooper saving a penalty.

The first half was a quiet affair with little in the way of chances for either side, but the game burst into life after the restart when recently-capped Wales under-19 international Omari Benjamin pounced on some hesitation in the Leicester box after they attempted to play out from the back, and was tripped.

That allowed Ibrahim to step up to the penalty spot and he tucked the ball down the middle to beat Dillon Adai.

However the Foxes fought back and Richards netted his first in fine fashion as he drove inside from the right flank and fired past Cooper with 15 minutes remaining, but we nearly got back in front when some fine play by Jimi Gower set up a chance for Romari Forde but he hit the post.

Soon after, Richards got in behind our defence and was pulled down by Coby Small who received a straight red card, however Cooper pulled off a fine save low to his right to keep out Richards’ subsequent penalty.

A minute later the sides were levelled up when Kevon Gray was shown his second yellow card for stopping a quickly-taken free-kick, but we slipped behind with two minutes remaining when Joshua King’s low centre was tucked home by Richards from a yard out to cruelly deny us a point.