Liverpool Under-21s came from behind in the Premier League 2 this afternoon to beat Leeds United Under-21s 2-1 at the AXA Training Centre and follow up last week’s draw at Goodison Park with a victory.
The young Reds were forced to work hard for all three points after Leeds took the lead, but the Reds showed character to turn the game around and secure another important victory on home soil; it was the in-form Will Wright who struck twice to seal the victory.
The result continues a positive start to the campaign for Rob Page’s side, who were blessed with Luke Chambers, Jayden Danns and Isaac Mayaba in the starting lineup, all of whom have had tastes of first-team football in the past, much-needed exposure coming up against the vastly experienced Jonny Howson in the heart of the Leeds ranks.
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After an even opening 45 minutes, which saw Keyrol Figueroa somehow denied by the Leeds goalkeeper and onto the post, the visitors took the lead early in the second when a scrappy situation eventually saw the ball fired into the top corner via a deflection.
Liverpool responded superbly to the setback and were handed the chance to level when Mabaya was brought down inside the area, Wright stepping up to fire the penalty home.
Momentum was well and truly with Page’s side; substitute Joe Bradshaw found Wright once again, whose brilliant first-time finish gave the hosts the lead with just over 10 minutes left to play.
The Reds saw the game out expertly despite the pressure being piled on until the last kick, in no small thanks to some strong defending from the excellent Wellity Lucky.
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Speaking after the match, Page discussed the win, Wright, Danns & More…
On the win: “It was a gritty, determined, hard-working performance. The mentality is first-class from them. I thought we showed a side of us that is hard to beat, hard-working, and they showed that again today. And as you said, we were a goal behind; we were a little bit disappointed with the goal. It was a bit of a melee in the box from Lucas’ header that hit one of their players, then it was well into your face; it dropped to them. I thought the reaction after it was very good. I thought the shape, our shape today, helped us get further up the pitch. We started that shape because we had Will (Wright), Figgy (Figueroa) and Dannsy (Danns) available to us. I thought we started really brightly but maybe guilty of, again, that detail, that final pass at the top of the pitch that let us down a little bit. But overall, a really, really pleasing performance.”
On the new-look formation: “It’s two split strikers, and Dannsy is at number 10. And then you’ve got three midfielders behind them with Mick Laffey, Joe Upton and Oli O’Connor that have got legs. They’ve probably run, I don’t know, 34k maybe today together, which is incredible. It suited the profile of the players to play that today, hence why we played that.”
On Jonny Howson: “Well, we know what Johnny’s going to do. He’s good on the ball. I just said to him at the end, he’s beginning to cheese us off a little bit now. Because every time we play them, he is hard to press because he always finds a way; he always finds a pass. It was a good test for us, a good challenge for us to be able to combat that. We had to be really aggressive with him on the ball because, really, if you give him time and space, it would hurt us. I thought we dealt with it really well.”
On Jayden Danns: “We’ll build up. So the next stage, no doubt, will be obviously an improvement on the 45. So he’s in a good place right now. He’s training at a very good intensity. I think he showed that in patches in the game today in the first 45 minutes.”
On Will Wright: “He was confident enough to pick the ball up to take the penalty, so I’ve got nothing but respect for him. He knew, like everybody else watching his game today, that he was below the standards that he set before. And fair play to him for picking the ball up. He’s come off at the end of the game, and he’s scored two goals. And he knows himself he’s not at the best of games, but good strikers, top players, they do that.”
On Kieran Morrison: “It’s been a really successful year for Kieran. That’s the aim is to get our lads out playing competitive football. And it’s a big club. I live in Sheffield, so I know the club inside out. And they get tremendous support. He’s going to be in an environment where it means something. The managers will be under pressure to win games of football. They had a great result yesterday, and I think he set up the seventh goal with his right foot down the outside. A little bit of magic and then down the outside, and a great cross for the seventh goal. So I watched him in the week again when he started, and I thought he’d done OK. So I think it’s a great move for him and only one that’s going to make him better for us.
On Luke Chambers: “We’ve just got minutes to play, and that’s it. He needed some game time. He hasn’t had a lot of game time so far, but it’s a perfect opportunity. So we don’t want to push him to 90 and run the risk of him picking up an injury. He’s an important part of the squad for the gaffer. And it’s about using the 21s to give him some minutes.
On targets for the season: “I think we always want to do better than the previous year. We got through to the knockout stages (of the UEFA Youth League) and then got beaten. So we definitely want to improve on that, of course. It’s a competition that we really look forward to. And it’s an unbelievable opportunity. I loved it last year myself. I loved that experience of exposing the younger players to that environment, to the opposition that we were up against. And as a player, that’s what you want. You can’t beat that.”
