City Into Hong Kong Citi Soccer Sevens Quarter-Finals
City overcame Singapore Cricket Club and HKFA Red Dragons on Day 1, but fell to defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion in the evening, resulting in a second-place finish in Group D.
During a busy, occasionally chaotic, opening day in Causeway Bay, sides from across the globe went head-to-head in seven-a-side, 14-minute-long fixtures in temperatures of 34 degrees.
Leicester's upcoming quarter-final clash with Group B winners Aston Villa, scheduled for 11:02am HKT (4:02am BST) on Sunday, will pair City with the side who they defeated 3-0 in the Final last May.
On Saturday, City began with a 1-0 success over Singapore CC, courtesy of Alex Pascanu’s intuitive 12th minute strike, after Ben Petty’s young side had struck the woodwork several times.
It was looking like it could have been a frustrating start to Leicester’s title defence as Belgian forward Josh Eppiah was denied twice by the upright while Layton Ndukwu, 19, also hit the post.
First, in the early exchanges, Eppiah turned on the spot and slammed a fierce effort against the bar before Ndukwu’s scooped attempt from 18 yards rebounded off the frame too.
After working himself into a useful pocket of space, Eppiah was later denied again by the base of the post in the second period, but the breakthrough would come.
On the back of a successful season domestically in Premier League 2 Division 1, the Foxes weren’t deterred by their initial misfortune in front of goal and they pressed for a late winner.
It came with barely two minutes to spare when Ndukwu’s inventive cross was expertly placed into the net by versatile defender Pascanu, 19, at the far post.
City’s day got better during their second outing with a 3-0 win over Red Dragons, a side representing the Hong Kong FA, which increased their chances of reaching the last-eight.
Eppiah, 19, was handed the perfect opportunity to open the scoring inside 60 seconds from the penalty spot, which he duly obliged to plant into the bottom corner.
The forward, last year’s Sevens top scorer, added a second just a minute later, benefitting from smart work by Josh Gordon, 23, to slot it in from close range for the Foxes.
Zimbabwe international Admiral Muskwe rattled the post after the break before Lamine Kaba Sherif, 19, made sure of the three points with a tidy close-range finish in the 11th minute.
Despite such positive results to begin with, the day ended with a frustrating 2-0 reverse against Brighton, who could have scored more if not for some outstanding saves from goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
As a result, to Foxes go into the quarter-finals as runners-up in Group D while Eppiah, with two strikes to his name, tops his side’s scoring charts ahead of the final day on Sunday.
Development Squad coach Ben Petty, speaking at the end of the day, told LCFC TV: "I thought we were terrific the first two games, it looked like the heat had got to us in the third game, which came as a bit of a shock. Fair play to Brighton, they played really well but credit to the lads, they got the job done and got out the group.
"It’ll be a tough game now against Aston Villa tomorrow, we’ll look forward to that and will have to recharge and go again.
Petty's Hong Kong Day 1 Assessment
Development Squad coach Ben Petty reflects on Leicester City's first day of action in the Hong Kong Citi Soccer Sevens.
"We were excellent against the Red Dragons and they were quite dangerous as well but we didn’t allow them an inch.
"We pressed them well, created loads of chances and we were clinical in that game and that’s what we’ll need to be tomorrow against Villa."
Day 1 results:
City 1 Singapore Cricket Club 0 (Pascanu 12’)
Iversen, Johnson (c), Knight (Hughes 12’), Kaba Sherif (Pascanu 9’), Gordon (Muskwe 7’), Ndukwu, Eppiah
City 3 HKFA Red Dragons 0 (Eppiah 1’, 2’, Kaba Sherif 11’)
Iversen, Hughes, Knight (Muskwe 7’), Johnson (c), (Ndukwu 7'), Gordon, Eppiah (Kaba Sherif 7’), Pascanu
City 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Iversen, Pascanu (Hughes 7'), Johnson (c), Ndukwu (Gordon 7'), Knight, Kaba Sherif (Hughes 7'), Eppiah
Group D standings:
The Group D standings... 📊#lcfc will face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals tomorrow! 👊 pic.twitter.com/Iz3kSe8mUN
— Leicester City (@LCFC) May 19, 2018
Main Cup Quarter-Finals:
Kashima Antlers vs. Newcastle United - 10:12am HKT
Glasgow Rangers vs. West Ham United - 10:37am HKT
Aston Villa vs. Leicester City - 11:02am HKT
Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Cagliari Calcio - 11:27am HKT
Full highlights will be posted to LCFC.com at the end of each day while exclusive access in Hong Kong will follow across the Club's social media channels over the weekend.