U21s: Aston Villa 2-2 Leicester City

Aston Villa played out an entertaining draw with Leicester City in Premier League 2 on Friday night.

Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba scored the opener with six minutes on the clock as the home side made the perfect start.

But they were quickly pegged back by Joe Wormleighton before former Villan Arjan Raikhy gave the visitors a half-time lead.

A driving run from Lamare Bogarde won a penalty at the beginning of the second half and it was coolly converted by Kobei Moore to level the scores.

Chances came and went as Villa pushed for a winner, but the Young Lions were left to settle for a point.

Villa started the game looking to build on their recent form, which had seen them win three of their past five league matches, and they should have gone ahead in the second minute.

Moore played a sharp one-two with Jimoh-Aloba on the halfway line and raced in behind the defence, seeing his placed shot saved by Bradley Young.

The hosts didn’t have to wait much longer for the first goal, taking the lead when Jimoh-Aloba tapped home the rebound after Moore had seen another shot saved.

Leicester, who started the game six places below Villa, struck back quickly when Wormleighton stole in ahead of Lander Emery to flick Silko Thomas’ free-kick into the net.

The visiting captain came close to doubling his tally when he thundered a drive against the post before Omari Kellyman shot narrowly wide at the end of a dazzling solo run.

A captivating game full of chances had a third goal after 30 minutes when Raikhy netted against his former team, beating Emery from inside the box following Tawanpa Maswanhise’s pull back.

The second half began in the same attacking vain as the first, with Aidan Borland arrowing a long-range shot against the crossbar within two minutes of the restart.

And Villa had the perfect chance to equalise soon after as Bogarde surged forward and was taken down in the box by a loose leg from Brandon Cover. Moore stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to pull his side level.

Momentum was firmly with the team in claret and blue, and they were close to regaining the lead when Rory Wilson’s rising drive flew narrowly over.

Tensions rose as the match ticked into the final ten minutes as both sides doubled down on their determination to walk away with three points.

Villa looked the likelier team to find a winner, going close when Cover cleared Moore’s effort off the goalline. It proved to the best chance of the closing stages as it finished honours even.