U17 PL Cup report Wolves 3-1 Leicester

Wolves 3 (Ji 5, Edozie 25, Ayman 63) Leicester 1 (Evans 45)

Wolves progressed into the semi-finals of the under-17 Premier League Cup following a 3-1 victory against Leicester City at Compton Park.

Goals from Minkyu Ji, Tom Edozie and Alvin Ayman were enough to secure a place in the final four for Richard Walker’s side, despite Jake Evans halving the deficit on the stroke of half-time.

The Old Gold made the perfect start to the game and were ahead inside just five minutes. The ball was worked out to Ji on the right-hand side who showed some individual trickery to cut inside and back outside of his man before unleashing an unstoppable effort across goal that nestled into the top corner, giving Jake Donohue no chance.

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— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 30, 2024

Leicester looked for a response and their number nine, Josh King, threatened when he drove a low shot from the edge which Lewys Benjamin got down well to save before the follow-up was blocked.

Wolves doubled their lead on 25 minutes through Edozie as the attacking midfielder found space on the edge and shot back across goal, leaving Donohue rooted to the centre of his goal as he was only able to watch the ball roll into the net.

King then dragged another effort wide of the mark at the other end, before Fraser Harper shot into the gloves of Donohue.

What looked to be a comfortable lead heading into half-time then turned into a narrow one as Leicester pulled one back right on 45. Evans met a cross into the centre with a superb diving header which he glanced across goal and into the far corner of the net.

Half-time | Wolves 2-1 Leicester

Kirsten Otchere twice tested Benjamin early into the second period but was denied on both occasions by the shot-stopper. First, a free-kick was held by Benjamin before a snap-shot on the edge was straight into the gloves of the goalkeeper.

And Wolves scored their all-important third goal of the afternoon soon after, and it came courtesy of substitute Ayman. The midfielder had only been on the pitch for less than a minute when he swept home from a Ji cross to score with his first touch of the game.

Alvin Ayman scores with his first touch ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/7mGLkwBkZA

— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 30, 2024

The Wolves rear-guard then stood firm for the final 25 minutes, limiting the Foxes to little in front of goal as any hope of a comeback was quashed.

Lennon Patterson came close to adding a fourth when he chased his own flick on, but his powerful strike rose just high and wide of bar and post.

Full-time | Wolves 3-1 Leicester

NEXT FIVE

Sunderland (H) 10/02

Blackburn Rovers (A) 17/02

Nottingham Forest (H) 24/02

Stoke City (A) 09/03

Everton (H) 16/03

TEAMS

Wolves | Benjamin, Okoduwa, Carson, Rawlings, Voice, Patterson, Ji (Gidaree 72), Bradbury, Angel, Harper (Ayman 62), Edozie.

Subs not used | Hardy, Marwa, Colesby.

Leicester | Donohue, Aluko, Thomas, Dyke, Lawrence, Khela, Evans, Donnelly, King, Otchere, Page.

Subs | Adedeji, Marsden, Monga, Hutchinson, Daniels.