Hull City 1-2 Leicester City U21: Controversial late penalty wins it for the young Foxes

It was very much smash and grab at the KCOM in Northern Group H of the Leasing.com EFL Trophy on Tuesday night, with Leicester City U21 scoring a last gasp penalty against a young Hull City side. The young Foxes took the lead through Callum Wright, but the Tigers drew level after Keane Lewis-Potter headed home Billy Chadwick’s superb cross.

A draw looked to be the most likely result with full time approaching, until the referee gave a penalty in the 94th minute in controversial circumstances. Will Russ went down very cheaply in the area, and George Hirst dispatched the resulting spot kick to see three points go the way of Leicester.

Story of the match

Leicester's youngsters almost went ahead in the first minute, with Hull City keeper Harvey Cartwright called into action from a shot by Callum Hulme. It was a great save from the youngster and Leicester were pushing forward in the early stages, pressing high and putting the Tigers under pressure.

Festus Arthur played Hull into trouble from a free kick - giving away a needless corner on eight minutes - but the Tigers cleared their lines easily. The home side looked nervous in the opening stages, unable to string passes together to get into Leicester's half. Tyrese Shade got forward on 17 minutes but Jacob Greaves blocked away for a Leicester corner.

Keane Lewis-Potter had the first shot for the home side on 19 minutes, but the Leicester defense managed to clear the ball with the chance going begging. Martin Samuelsen's misplaced flick was not punished by Leicester as the Tigers' sluggish start to the game continued as the half-hour mark approached. Hull were trying the ball over the top, but were not getting the forwards into the game enough to make an impact.

Ali Reghba went into referee Ross Joyce's book for a late challenge on Dan Batty on 33 minutes. Harvey Cartwright's misplaced pass to George Hirst almost saw Leicester go ahead, but the son of ex-Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst was unable to take advantage, with Cartwright making up for his error with a good save.

Good build up play soon after from Hull saw Lewis-Potter eventually getting the shot away, but Jakub Stolarczyk saved well down to his left. Arthur's mistake went unpunished on 42 minutes, and then good play from the Tigers saw James Berry curl an effort just over the bar. With a minute to go to half time, Leicester almost took the lead with Shane Flynn's fizzed cross just going wide. The half time whistle went with the scores locked at 0-0.

As the second half got underway, Leicester had the best chance of the game with Shade crossing into Hirst, but his header went just past the post. On 49 minutes though, a set piece delivered into the box found the head of Callum Wright who headed home to give Leicester the lead that they deserved up until that point.

Hull nearly hit back straight away with successive chances for Samuelsen, Shaun McLoughlin and Jacob Greaves, but the away side managed to survive. Conceding the goal seemed to spark them into life, and their play was much more purposeful. The ineffective Samuelsen was withdrawn for Billy Chadwick who had looked promising against Gainsborough Trinity the week before. The substitution paid immediate dividends too, as Chadwick's cross provided the assist for Keane Lewis-Potter to head home to make it 1-1. It was much better from the Tigers, who now looked far more dangerous going forward.

Chadwick was involved yet again as he picked up an over-hit cross, but the resulting ball in went just over the bar for a Leicester free kick. Both teams huffed and puffed as the game drew to a close, with an end to end affair seeing both sides trying to win the opening Northern Group H match. Terell Pennant cut in from the left and shot as full time approached, but the shot fizzed just wide. In the third minute of added time, Leicester were awarded a penalty that should VAR have been present at the game would surely have been overturned. George Hirst slotted home to give the away side the victory.

Takeaways from the match

Strangely, it took the home side to concede for them to spark into life at the KCOM. Leicester shaded the first half and scored soon after the restart, and the away side deserved their lead. However, Grant McCann's decision to hook Samuelsen and bring on youngster Billy Chadwick proved to be a masterstroke. Barely a minute after coming on, Chadwick's superb cross invited Lewis-Potter to head home to draw the Tigers level. Grant McCann will be very disappointed with the winning goal for Leicester, with the penalty awarded in the last minute of stoppage time for an innocuous challenge at best.

Leicester City's youngsters may have arrived an unknown quantity, but certainly impressed against their League One opponents. Their high press caused the Tigers problems at the back, and at times Hull City looked to be under the cosh from Steve Beaglehole's side. They moved the ball around well and got the winner in the end from a rather dubious penalty that the Tigers will feel was harshly given.

Stand-out players

Both Jones' were impressive overall for the home side, with Alfie Jones looking steady at the back and Callum Jones lively in midfield. Once Billy Chadwick came on, he instantly got Keane Lewis-Potter into the game for his equalizing goal. The Tigers looked far more dangerous after they conceded, and Chadwick was a bit part of that. They were unlucky to concede a penalty at the death, with the Tigers worth at least a draw.

Callum Hulme impressed in the middle, as well as Callum Wright. The latter headed home to make it 0-1 to the visitors on 49 minutes, and took his goal very well. Both faded a little as the game went on, but Steve Beaglehole will have been very impressed with his team of mostly U18 players.