Bristol City Under-21s picked a well-earned point on the road after drawing 1-1 with Norwich City in the Premier League Cup at the Avant Training Centre on Thursday evening.
The Young Robins took an early lead through Rafael Araoye before Errol Mundle-Smith levelled in the second half to result in the points being shared.
City began on the front foot and opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Omar Taylor-Clarke’s whipped delivery fell to Olly Thomas, whose initial effort was nicely saved by Tom Finch, but Araoye was there to fire the rebound into the back of the net.
Norwich almost levelled immediately after, through Mundle-Smith, whose close-range attempt went just wide of the post.
The hosts continued to apply pressure in attacking positions, leading to them earning a penalty with 16 minutes on the clock. Elliot Myles stepped up, but Josey Casa-Grande guessed the right way to keep City in front.
Just two minutes later, Leo Pecover nearly doubled City’s advantage after he found space on the left-hand side and curled an effort from the edge of the area, but his shot was just wide of the mark.
Half-time: Norwich City U21 0-1 Bristol City U21
The first opening of the second half came to Norwich three minutes after the break, when Mundle-Smith was played through on goal and dinked the City goalkeeper to level the scoring.
The visitors had a chance of their own in the 57th minute after Adam Murphy received the ball at the edge of the penalty area and fired a shot towards goal, but it took a deflection and went out for a corner.
City had yet another great opportunity four minutes before the end when Pecover slid the ball through to Thomas, but the striker could not convert, leaving the game to finish all square.
The points are shared in the #U21PLCup 🤝 pic.twitter.com/TyWikzFlVz
— Norwich City Academy (@NorwichCityAcad) October 17, 2024
Next up, the Young Robins welcome local rivals Bristol Rovers to the High Performance Centre on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 1 pm in the GFA Senior Challenge Cup.
Line ups:
Bristol City Starting XI: Casa-Grande, James, Taylor, Arayoe, Ali, Taylor-Clarke, Murphy, Rose, Pecover, Thomas, Bak.
Norwich City Starting XI: Finch, Okwuno, Wilson, Warner, Mahovo, Gee (Adelusi 89), Djedje (Manning 75), Bridge, Myles (Roberts 82), Forbes (Ogwuru 75), Mundle, Smith.
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