Match Recap: Leeds United under-23s 3-3 Sunderland under-23s

Leeds United’s under-23s squandered a 3-0 lead against Sunderland in The Premier League Cup.

The away side came close on seven minutes as a clever one-two down the right channel put Dunne through, albeit at a tight angle. His first shot was parried by Klaesson, directly back onto the head of the Sunderland forward who hit the post.

Leeds went up the pitch, with Cody Drameh reaching the by-line and swinging in a cross. Summerville picked up the loose ball 14-yards from goal in a central area. He brought the ball down before shaping up and whipping the ball across the keeper and into the top right corner.

After an open start, Leeds tightened their grip on the game as Dean’s chipped ball over the top put Summerville clean through on goal. He took the ball into the penalty area before slipping the ball past the keeper and into the bottom right corner.

The hat-trick arrived on 34 minutes as Leeds’ blistering counter-attack led to Dean prodding the ball inside to Greenwood, whose lifted finish was well blocked by the keeper, before Summerville put away the rebound for 3-0.

Things slowed down for The Whites in the second half-though, opening up room for Sunderland to get one back ten minutes in. A nifty one-two down the left side had Dunne through on the left channel once again, with Dunne converting this time.

It was Sunderland who kept pushing and gifted with a second goal on 79 minutes as Ferguson was looking to play out from the back. Instead, he sent Cade Kelly through on goal who had an easy finish to pile the pressure on the home side.

It seemed inevitable that an equaliser was coming, and it did arrive in the 90th minute as the Black Cats countered down the left. Dunne received it before turning two defenders brilliantly and slipping Kachosa through on the right channel, who nipped the ball past Klaesson and into the bottom left corner.

It ended all square in what was a dire second half for the young Leeds team who had bulldozed their way to a 3-0 halftime lead. In the second though, they showed a real lack of game management experience, something that the team from last season had to learn the hard way too. Perhaps the youngsters can make this game a turning point in their season.