Soccer Sevens: skipper seizes day for Leicester – now for English Premier League relegation fight
- The Foxes will chase cup glory on Sunday at HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens before their young squad watch nervously as last day of the Premier League unfolds
- Aston Villa beaten by Hong Kong side Tai Po but both reach cup quarter-finals at Rangers’ expense
On the eve of the Premier League season’s final round, when the club must win to beat the dreaded drop – while Newcastle could snatch third – their rising stars showed how it’s done at Hong Kong Football Club.
On Sunday it could be Jamie Vardy or James Maddison saving the Foxes. On Saturday, it was their skipper Lewis Brunt who ensured they topped group C to reach the Soccer Sevens cup quarter-finals.
He left it late. When the dominant Magpies took the lead through Amadou Diallo, there were obvious parallels with the English season, in which Saudi-backed Newcastle have surged to a Champions League place while Leicester have toiled.
Back in Hong Kong, Tawanda Maswanhise levelled and Leicester looked set to settle for a draw – which will not suffice for their first team on Sunday at home to West Ham United.
But cometh the hour, cometh the young man, as Brunt pounced on a weak clearance to fire first time into the top-right corner. It proved to be the last kick of the game.
