The report

Chelsea initially looked set for a place in the Under-18 Premier League Cup semi-finals when we started the match well and took the lead at Cobham inside the first 20 minutes.

It was a fine opener too, as captain Reiss Denny showed excellent composure to control Michael Golding's left-wing cross in the box and send a pinpoint half-volley into the bottom-right corner on the swivel.

However, things unraveled in the space of less than one second-half minute. First Jake Evans levelled for Leicester by firing into the top corner from the edge of the box, and then straight from the restart the Foxes went ahead as Toby Ononaye broke free and finished one-on-one.

Our chances of progressing were hindered further when Donnell McNeilly was shown a straight red card following a 50-50 clash, and with 10 men we were unable to find a way back from that second-half blow.

The reaction

Under-18s head coach Hassan Sulaiman was disappointed to see his team put a rare foot wrong this season, as he believes a better reaction following Leicester's equaliser could have prevented the game from getting away from us.

'I don’t think we can hide the fact that we were disappointed with the outcome of the game,' he said. 'In the first half we were the far better side. We had significant ball possession, we went in 1-0 up, we created chances but, in all honesty, we had very few attempts on target, especially when you consider the amount of times we were able to play through their press and enter the final third.

'We were a little bit disappointed with our end product but having said that we were winning at half-time and in high spirits, because we knew that we were the better side. We anticipated how they would approach the second half. We knew that they would feel as though they were still in the game, because in the FA Youth Cup against them there was the same scoreline at half-time and they came out and scored to make it 1-1.

'This time they scored a really good goal and then we conceded literally a few moments after they scored the equaliser, which is a killer. That naturally deflates the boys and then the red card is an absolute game changer because we lost arguably our main attacking threat, our number nine. So it was always going to be an uphill battle when we went down to 10 men and were already losing the game.'

However, as always, this set-back provides his young squad with an important opportunity to learn and improve going forward as they continue their development.

'The biggest lesson we took from it is how we respond to adversity. In fairness to the boys, throughout the season whenever we’ve faced any form of adversity they’ve always responded really well.

'This was one of those moments when you could argue it wasn’t meant to be in terms of the scoreline, but then also when you look at what we need to do in terms of learning, we had to have an initial response when they equalised which could have prevented their second goal.

'Even after their second goal it’s really important that we get our heads together and stay in the game, because it was still close and we definitely weren’t outplayed. With 11 men we still had a chance of not only equalising but winning the game.

'I just think that psychologically we were really deflated and disappointed that we had conceded two goals, which led to the sending off and it snowballed.'

The teams

Chelsea 1-2 Leicester City

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Max Merrick; Genesis Antwi, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Travis Akomeah, Josh-Kofi Acheampong; Ollie Harrison, Reiss Denny (c); Frankie Runham (Chinonso Chibueze 34), Michael Golding, Tyrique George; Donnell McNeilly
Unused subs: Kai Crampton, Saheed Olagunju, Kaiden Wilson, Shaun Wade
Scorer: Denny 17
Booked: Murray-Campbell 64
Sent off: McNeilly 72

Leicester (4-2-3-1): Harry French, Olabade Aluko, Jayden Joseph, Tommy Neale, Liam McAlinney, Bobby Amartey, Jake Evans (Joshua King 85), Toby Ononaye, Kirsten Otchere (Yassin Toure 85), Ryan Donnelly (Reiss Khela 81), Alfie Fisken (Kaleb Dyke 71)
Unused sub: Stevie Bausor
Scorers: Evans 61, Ononaye 62
Booked: Neale 19, Evans 83