Chelsea advanced to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup after securing a hard-fought 3-2 victory away at Leicester City on Friday evening, with an outstanding second-half performance and a late winner.
It was our first FA Youth Cup fixture of the season, and what a way to start our cup run. The match was action-packed from start to finish, and ended with Chelsea celebrating at the final whistle.
We started the game brightly, but it was Leicester who broke the deadlock when their striker Jake Evans fired a powerful shot into the roof of the net. Our luck didn’t improve as Leicester extended their lead with a penalty.
However, as the first period was coming to an end during stoppage time, Kiano Dyer pulled one back with a composed, low strike into the bottom corner, giving us hope as we headed into the second half.
We came out after the break with renewed intent and wasted no time building pressure. It felt inevitable that we would find the back of the net again. This time, it was a looping ball from Dyer into the box, where Shumaira Mheuka's header left Leicester keeper Jake Donohue with no chance.
The Blues didn’t stop there as Under-18s head coach Hassan Sulaiman turned to his bench. It was subsitute Kobe Barbour who was perfectly positioned to volley in the rebound after Leo Cardoso’s powerful shot was saved, securing our win and spot in the next round.
We’ve picked out our favourite images from the victory in Leicester...