Stolarczyk is the shoot-out hero as City reach last 16 of the Papa John’s Trophy
LEICESTER City are the last remaining Premier League team in the Papa John’s Trophy after a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Salford City.
City’s development squad recovered from a two-goal deficit to take a six-goal thriller to spot-kicks, with Jakub Stolarczyk then saving in the second round of sudden death to earn Steve Beaglehole’s team a place in the last 16.
They were the only under-21 outfit to make it through with Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham, Wolves, and Norwich all knocked out.
Salford, managed by former City midfielder Richie Wellens, took a 1-0 lead into half-time that they doubled shortly after the break.
But City striker Admiral Muskwe scored twice in five minutes to level the game up.
Salford took the lead again but City were not to be beaten, and leftback Shane Flynn, on the bench for the senior side’s loss at Zorya Luhansk last week, grabbed a second equaliser with seven minutes remaining. The game moved into penalties, and while Ali Reghba missed for City, Callum Wright, Callum Hulme, Muskwe and
Thanawat Suengchitthawon netted from 12 yards to take the spot-kicks to sudden death, Stolarczyk keeping out one of Salford’s first five. Kasey McAteer and Khanya Leshabela both netted pressure penalties.
But in the seventh round of spotkicks, Stolarczyk saved Sam Fielding’s effort to make himself the hero of the evening.
City will discover who they face in the next round today, with the fixtures to be played in the week commencing January 11.
That City were the only under-21 team to make it through was perhaps a surprise given the number of senior players some of their Premier League rivals fielded.
Arsenal had Sokratis, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli in their team, but lost 3-0 to AFC Wimbledon, while Craig Dawson and Andriy Yarmolenko could not stop West Ham losing 3-0 to Peterborough.
City: Stolarczyk; Daley-Campbell (McAteer), O’Connor, Nelson, Flynn; Leshabela, Hulme; Ndukwu (Suengchitthawon), Muskwe, Wright; Reghba.