Leicester City’s Development Squad were on the wrong end of a 5-0 scoreline when they met Manchester City's Elite Development Squad at Academy Stadium on Saturday evening.
Two changes were made from the side that faced Accrington Stanley in the Papa John’s Trophy two weeks ago, with Jake Wakeling back from injury to start in attack, while Sammy Braybrooke was also included in the starting XI after being on international duty for England Under-20s.
There was also a welcome return to the squad for Josh Eppiah, who made his first appearance of the season, coming off the bench to play the final half an hour in Manchester.
It was a ruthless performance from the Citizens, who took the lead on 19 minutes via Cole Palmer’s finish. Palmer, who also made a brief Premier League appearance for Pep Guardiola’s side earlier in the day, then added his and Man City’s second in first-half stoppage time.
Leicester may still have been in the game at the break, but within four second-half minutes, the hosts grabbed a third. Luca Barrington found the net, assisted by Oscar Bobb, to put the result beyond doubt.
Sam Robinson added a fourth with 12 minutes to play and then teed up Palmer for his hat-trick on 85 minutes to round off a dominant display by the league leaders.
Unbeaten Man City currently occupy top spot in the Premier League 2 standings by a margin of four points, having won six of their eight matches this term.
Leicester, meanwhile, sit 11th in the 14-team table, with eight points collected from their seven league fixtures in 2021/22.
Next up for the Foxes youngsters in Premier League 2 is a meeting with Chelsea Under-23s at LCFC Training Ground on Saturday 23 October (5pm BST kick-off).
The details…
City: Young; Daley-Campbell (c), Brunt, B. Nelson, R. Nelson, Flynn; McAteer, Braybrooke (Fitzhugh 51'), Marcal-Madivadua; Maswanhise (Spencer-Adams 61'), Wakeling (Eppiah 61').
Subs not used: Odunze, Alves.
