Charlton’s U21s staged an extraordinary comeback to secure a 4-3 victory at Leicester City in the Premier League Cup on Friday evening.
Having found themselves three goals down come the 66th minute, the young Addicks plundered three of their own in five incredible second-half minutes to draw themselves level, before claiming victory with three minutes remaining courtesy of Henry Rylah’s penalty.
The Foxes took a 1-0 lead into the break after Bobby Amartey had opened the scoring for the hosts in the 36th minute and it looked as if they would run away with it when they netted twice more after the restart.
Jake Evans tapped in from close range on 54 minutes to make it 2-0, before he bagged his brace to extend his side’s lead to three in the 66th minute.
Just two minutes later, however, Charlton sprung into life. Ethan Brown fired home from the right-hand side to give the visitors some hope, while Patrick Casey reduced the arrears to a single goal shortly after.
The game was now well and truly on and Emmanuel Sol-Loza completed the turnaround with 74 minutes on the clock to make it 3-3.
While a draw would have been a good result considering the nature of the young Addicks’ fightback, they were not content with a solitary point and wanted more.
Indeed, they got it and it came via the penalty spot in the 87th minute. After a foul in the box, it was left up to Rylah, who made no mistake, sticking away his spot-kick to round off a memorable evening for Chris Lock’s youngsters who have made it two wins from two in Group C of the cup competition.
The U21s return to league action at The Valley on Tuesday afternoon when they host Watford (KO 1pm BST).
**Charlton U21s:** Hardy; Brown, Hunter, Enslin; Rylah (Richman 90+1), Safa (Belton 88), Gough (c), Amissah (Elliott 62), Lock (R.Reid 62); Casey, Sol-Loza
**Subs (not used):** MacLorg
**Goals:** Brown 68, Casey 71, Sol-Loza 73, Rylah 87 (pen)
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_(Photo: Tom West)_