U18s: Norwich City 2-2 Aston Villa

Aston Villa were made to settle for a draw against Norwich City in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday.

The Canaries’ Finley Welch equalised from the penalty spot with six minutes remaining to deny Villa a third league win of the season.

Jayden Barber and Ewan Simpson had handed the visitors a 2-1 half-time lead after Alex Matos’ opener.

The point leaves Villa tenth in the table ahead of a home game against Chelsea this weekend.

The Young Lions made a strong start to proceedings in East Anglia, with Simpson calling Caleb Ansen into a smart stop after being teed up by Kadan Young.

James Wright made a fine one-handed save to keep the scores level early on, but he was unable to keep out Matos’ low drive after 22 minutes.

Barber, who has featured in the EFL Trophy and Premier League 2 this season, showed all his quality to equalise with a stunning solo goal just three minutes later.

The right-back picked the ball up five yards inside his own half and proceeded to maraud down the wing. After gliding past three defenders as he cut inside, Barber swept the ball home with his left foot.

A second goal arrived before half-time as Villa headed back to the changing rooms with a lead, and this time it was created on the left wing.

Young delivered the ball to the feet of Simpson in the box, and the winger found space for a shot before lifting the ball into the top corner.

Chances came and went for both sides in an entertaining encounter, with Young and Simpson firing efforts on goal for Villa.

And just as it looked as though the visitors were set to secure victory, Norwich were handed the chance to level from the spot.

Welch, who won the penalty when his driving run was abruptly ended by a slide tackle, coolly sent Wright the wrong way to ensure both sides took a share of the spoils.