Manchester City U23’s played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League 2 Division One against Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium – a goal from Foxes defender Yohan Benalouane opening the scoring before City’s Cameron Humphreys levelled in the second half.
Simon Davies’ side, which included the trio of Tosin Adarabioyo, Angelino and Brahim Diaz who all took to the pitch at the Liberty Stadium in the EFL Cup, showed plenty of promise but could not find the net.
The home side played some fine free-flowing football but could not get in and around the Leicester 18-yard box enough in the first half.
And when they did, Foxes goalkeeper Daniel Iversen was there to provide the final line of defence. He made three excellent saves to deny City No.7 Paolo Fernandes, two of which came from long-range free-kicks in the first half.
The second half saw much of the same from City, who completely dominated the ball but couldn’t find that final touch. The likes of Paulo Fernandes and Brahim Diaz were wonderful to watch at times yet the end product wasn’t always there – which is normal at this level where it’s largely about development.
Aaron Nemane injected a bit of pace and energy down the right flank with a series of darting runs but nobody was there for his cut-backs and crosses.
What looked like City’s best chance came from a driven ball from the left courtesy of Angelino, his cross finding his Spanish compatriot Pablo Maffeo who hit the crossbar with his sidefooted finish.
But then another defender did find the net for City, Cameron Humphreys providing a cool finish after the ball was prodded back into the Leicester box from a corner.
And that’s how it stayed, City remain in third position in the Division One table after the 1-1 draw. Many of the City youngsters will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on Celtic in the UEFA Youth League.
