Wright Nets A Brace In Dinamo Zagreb Victory For City's Under-23s
City’s starting XI included seven changes from last Friday’s defeat by Arsenal, with Jakub Stolarczyk, Sam Hughes, Terell Pennant and Callum Hulme among those to come in.
The first opening of the match came within 60 seconds as Dinamo’s Kim Kyu-Hyeong fizzed an effort wide from just outside Leicester’s penalty area.
On 13 minutes, meanwhile, Kyu-Hyeong went close again for the Croatian visitors after latching onto Damjann Danicic’s cross to head narrowly over Stolarczyk’s crossbar.
They did go ahead after just 22 minutes, however, when Leon Šipoš found space centrally in the penalty area, before slotting into the back of the net.
Going behind seemed to spark Leicester into action with Ali Reghba seeing a low drive deflected wide before Wright levelled the scores before the half-hour mark.
It came following a whipped corner from Hulme which was headed goalwards by Hughes, forcing Lovro Juric - with the help of two defenders - to make a scrambled save.
The Croatian, though, could do little about Wright’s follow-up strike as the dynamic midfielder netted his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-1 in Whetstone.
Reghba, on the other hand, was unfortunate not to put his side ahead just before the break after weaving his way into the box and sending a low effort just wide of the far post.
At the interval, forwards Josh Eppiah and Conor Tee were introduced to the action, replacing Hulme and Pennant, and sitting either side of Reghba in an attacking three.
Eppiah, on six goals in blue this term, almost made an immediate impact as Wright redirected Tyrese Shade’s cross into his path, but the Belgian striker sent it the wrong side of the post.
On 59 minutes, Leicester completed the turnaround as Wright seized on a loose pass from Dinamo 'keeper Juric to send a first-time shot into an empty net, a reward for City's second-half industry.
While Wright and Tee both missed the target in quick succession shortly after the Foxes' second, so too did Mario Ćuže for Dinamo, who sent a powerful right-footed shot over the bar.
Late on, meanwhile, Eppiah did exceedingly well to break free of his man, cutting inside and going for goal, but there was Juric to get down and make a decent save with his legs.
Stolarczyk made a fantastic stop to deny Zagreb substitute Ilija Bagarić's spectacular long-range effort in the final moments of the match.
Major moment
A moment to forget for Lovro Juric in the Dinamo net invited Callum Wright to take his 2019/20 tally up to five goals and to put Leicester into a 2-1 lead in the second half.
While deserved for both Wright and City, it was undoubtedly a fortuitous moment for the home side, and one which enabled them to secure a 13th win in 15 matches in all competitions.
Who impressed?
Former City manager Micky Adams, speaking live on LCFC TV, said: "There's been some decent performance out there. Darnell Johnson's done particularly well, Tyrese Shade and Ali Reghba too. Josh Eppiah, when he came on, did particularly well. But Callum Wright, who scored two goals, I don't think you can take it away from him."
Where does it leave us?
Leicester's youngsters finish second in Group A of the Premier League International Cup on six points, below Arsenal, but their goal difference of -1 isn't enough to qualify as one of two best-placed runners up.
At present West Ham United, on six points in Group B and with a goal difference of +2, and Monaco, on six points and +3, are in pole position to reach the last-eight after also completing all their fixtures.
Coming up…
The Foxes travel to Aldershot Town’s EBB Stadium on Friday to face Premier League 2 Division 1 leaders Chelsea, who Leicester trail by just three points.
As usual, the Blue Army can tune into live and free coverage on LCFC TV 15 minutes before the 7pm GMT kick-off.
The details…
City: Stolarczyk; Daley-Campbell, Johnson (c), Hughes (O'Connor 70'), Thomas; Wright, Leshabela; Pennant (Eppiah 45’), Shade, Hulme (Tee 45’); Reghba
Subs not used: Davies, Loughlin
Goals: Wright 29', 59'