Leeds United youngsters snatch dramatic stoppage time winner after red card as knockout place looms

admin | December 11, 2023 | Leeds United | No Comments

Leeds United’s Under-21 side have all but qualified for the Premier League Cup’s knockout round this season after securing a third win in four Group D matches with a late victory over Colchester United.

Monday night at the home of Maldon and Tiptree Football Club, the young Whites were put to the test. However, despite missing important players and facing a challenging pitch, they prevailed thanks to a goal from Joe Snowdon in the 96th minute.

Bradley Ihionvien, a first-team striker for Colchester, scored the goal during first-half stoppage time. He did so by grabbing Marley Marshall-Miranda’s through pass and scoring under Dani van den Heuvel in the Leeds goal. Leeds probed during the second half and attempted to create opening down the sides of Colchester’s defence, but they lacked a presence in the right areas as cutbacks and crosses were cleared and went out of play instead of finding the back of the net. Leeds was missing attacker Mateo Joseph due to involvement with Daniel Farke’s senior squad.

As the match approached its final quarter of an hour, U’s defender Ronny Nelson was penalised for a high challenge on galloping left-back Connor Ferguson, who was swiftly to his feet to remonstrate with the imposing defender for what he perceived to be a dangerous tackle. The officials agreed with the Leeds defender and brandished a red, which ultimately turned the game in United’s favour.

After a lengthy stoppage, from the resulting free-kick, Leeds drew level. Sean McGurk’s low delivery bounced on its way through and a decisive touch from central defender Diogo Monteiro took the ball past Colchester goalkeeper Ted Collins.

The chance to all but secure a place in the knockout rounds looked to have passed Leeds by, though, until Charlie Allen’s driving run to the byline and precise cutback found the run of Snowdon whose arrival into the box led to him crashing the ball through bodies and into the back of the net, right in front of a handful of Essex-based Leeds supporters.

Leeds cannot be caught by Colchester thanks to their third victory in four games in this competition, which ties them for first place in the group with Chelsea. Luton Town, who have dropped their last three PL Cup games, has to defeat Leeds, Colchester, and Chelsea in order to keep Leeds from moving on to the next round of the competition.

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