City EDS return to winning ways with PL2 triumph over Leicester | OneFootball

Seb Naylor’s first half brace helped City’s Elite Development Squad return to winning ways with a comfortable 4-0 triumph over Leicester City.

Ben Wilkinson’s youngsters took a deserved lead just before the half-hour mark.

Naylor placed an elegant free-kick towards the bottom-right corner before he fired a left-footed finish into the opposite corner on the brink of half-time.

Mamad Sangare made it three with his ninth in all competitions as City continued to dominate.

Kevon Gray’s own goal in the final stages put the game to bed as our young boys in blue earned a vital three points and clean sheet.

WHAT HAPPENED

The floodlights were on early, setting the perfect scene for Friday-night football at the Joie Stadium.

City looked determined to have a more positive start to the clash, following three successive defeats across all competitions.

But it was also clear that Wilkinson instructed his team to be patient and avoid any mistakes that would benefit our opponents.

After dominating possession, City finally found the breakthrough on 24 minutes.

Harrison Parker won his team a free-kick from 20 yards out. Left-back Naylor stepped up straight away to take, with the ball positioned favourably for a left footer on the right corner of the Leicester box.

The 20-year-old placed his free-kick around the wall and out of Stevie Bausor’s reach.

And Naylor would benefit from a set piece again in the final seconds of the opening 45.

The full-back picked up possession, 25 yards out, from City’s corner. With plenty of space in front of him, he fired a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner.

Naylor was denied his hat-trick on 53 minutes, almost finding the back of the Leicester net again with another free-kick.

A sloppy pass at the back by Bausor saw Muir regain possession for City on the edge of the Leicester box on 66 minutes.

The winger was selfless and opted to tee up Sangare, who made it three with a composed finish.

It continued to be all treat and no trick for City on Halloween when Leicester’s Gray miskicked his clearance into the back of his own net as he tried to deny Emilio Lawrence’s low, well-placed shot.

As well as the result, another positive was the involvement of Isaac Smith in the closing stages. He made his return to PL2 action after 571 days out through injury and 16-year-old Floyd Samba made his league debut.

TEAMS

CITY XI | Wint, Nfonkeu (Noble 62’), Parker (Smith 81’), Katongo, Naylor, Fapetu (F. Samba 81’), Muir, J. Heskey, Sangare (Warhurst 72’), Breckin, Lawrence.

UNUSED SUBS | Brits.

LEICESTER XI | Bausor, Aluko (Carr 63’), Ali, Gray, Amartey, Neale (Lawrence 46’), Richards, Onanaye, Popov (Otchere 71’), Golding, Briggs.

UNUSED SUBS | Donohue, Khela.

AS A RESULT

City climb the table, with the fight for a place in the top 16 heating up.

After seven league games, we have three wins, one draw and one loss which sees us have 10 points in 15th.

UP NEXT

We return to midweek action next week as we welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Joie Stadium for our latest UEFA Youth League test.

The European clash will be available to watch live on CITY+, with the game set to begin at 15:00 (UK).