City's Youngsters Into PL Cup Semi-Finals After Wolves Victory
On a rainy evening in Whetstone, a deflected first half strike from Curacao international Liandro Martis was added upon by Harvey Barnes after the break to secure safe passage for the Foxes.
Under-23s manager Steve Beaglehole made just two changes from City’s 4-0 success over Southampton in the last-16 with Daniel Iversen replacing Max Bramley, while Martis came in for Hamza Choudhury following the 20-year-old’s appearance for the first team on Saturday.
After a decidedly subdued opening in increasingly sodden conditions, it took 18 minutes for the Foxes to break the deadlock as Martis got on the end of a flowing move.
Darnell Johnson streamed down the right flank, looking to find Barnes, but when the 20-year-old’s shot was blocked, it fell to Martis to find the net, via a deflection off Ben Goodliffe.
City almost doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark when a floated cross from Barnes found Josh Knight in the area, but the young defender’s header flew over the bar.
Goodliffe, the Wolves skipper, was unlucky not to grab an equaliser for the visitors in the 41st minute, though, with a smart header which was glanced inches wide of Iversen’s post.
In a quite unbelievable slice of good fortune, just after the restart, Benny Ashley-Seal nodded a header onto the base of the post before Carlos Heredia rattled the bar from the rebound.
Barnes Delighted After Quarter-Finals Success
Midfielder Harvey Barnes reflects on the Development Squad's 2-0 victory over Wolves in the quarter-finals of the Premier League Cup.
As City recovered from an almighty scare, the hosts thought they had doubled their lead when Barnes found Thomas at the far post, but the linesman had his flag up.
Barnes would have a say, however, in the 68th minute when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall laid it up nicely for him to place it beyond Burgoyne into the corner from 18 yards out.
Later on, Josh Gordon found himself with space to run into behind the Wolves backline, although Burgoyne got out quickly to make a strong save with his left knee to deny the 23-year-old.
Major moment
Just as Wolves appeared to be gathering steam in the second period, up stepped Harvey Barnes to register his fourth goal since returning to Club from his loan spell at Barnsley.
With the rain worsening after the interval, both sides had a battle on their hands to manage the downpour, but it was Leicester who coped best with Barnes putting the match to bed.
Where does it leave us?
City are now in the draw for the semi-finals of the Premier League Cup, where they could face Sheffield United, Swansea City and Aston Villa.
Keep an eye on LCFC.com for confirmation of a time and date for the draw, which is expected to take place later this week.
Coming up…
It’s a return to Premier League 2 duties for the Foxes on Sunday as they travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland in their penultimate league fixture (12pm kick-off).
The details...
City: Iversen, Johnson, Wood, Knight, Pascanu, Hughes (c), Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall, Gordon, Barnes, Martis (Eppiah 55)
Subs not used: Ughelumba, Yates, Leshabela, Ndukwu
Goals: Martis 18, Barnes 68
Wolves: Burgoyne, Burr, Breslin, Watt, Goodliffe (c), Leak, Heredia (Hanne 70), Levingston (Otasowie 65), Ashley-Seal, Ennis, Graham
Subs not used: Odoffin, Xavier, Samuels