Liverpool Under 21s were in pre-Christmas action as the young Reds welcomed Jong Feyenoord to the AXA on a cold and windy Friday night.
Barry Lewtas’ side was once again missing the likes of James McConnell, Jarell Quansah and Kaide Gordon – as well as Ben Doak who is likely to miss the remainder of the season through unfortunate injury – but has been strengthened by the return of Oakley Cannonier in recent weeks.
The Reds lined up with Fabian Mrozek in goal, a back four of Terence Miles, Carter Pinnington, Luke Chambers and Calum Scanlon behind a midfield trio of Tommy Pilling, Trey Nyoni and captain Tom Hill.
In attack, Liverpool boasted the exciting firepower of Trent Kone-Doherty, Lewis Koumas and Paul Glatzel who himself is looking to kick on again this term following a spell on loan at Tranmere Rovers last season.
Despite the absentees, it was a strong start from the hosts against what looked to be a more settled and physical Feyenoord side.
Early ventures into the final third from Kone-Doherty and Nyoni posed a threat before Hill joined an attack, beating two men before being brought down around 30 yards from goal at a perfect crossing angle.
The skipper picked himself up and delivered a dangerous ball to the back post where it was met by Glatzel, the 22-year-old seeing his initial effort wonderfully kept out before finding the back of the net at the second attempt.
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With the momentum in Liverpool’s favour, Koumas tried his luck from range, buying the raffle ticket and getting his reward as a huge deflection wrong-footed goalkeeper Mannou Berger and doubled the lead for Lewtas’ charges.
The ever-threatening left side triangle of Scanlon, Nyoni and Kone-Doherty was causing Feyenoord a host of problems and the latter two combined wonderfully, Nyoni coming close to extending the advantage even further from a tight angle.
Moments later it was 2-1 as Feyenoord countered and took advantage of a loose pass to punish the Reds. Joep Van Der Sluis fired the ball under Mrozek from distance to halve the advantage at halftime.
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Buoyed by their goal and mini shift in momentum at the back end of the first half, the visitors went close to levelling the scores with a sweetly struck volley which cannoned back off the post.
Now at full tilt, the Dutch outfit were testing the defence regularly but centre-back duo Chambers and Pinnington, in particular, were standing up to the challenge, winning countless headers, tackles and interceptions.
Liverpool were still a danger, certainly on the counter-attack and fine work from Glatzel playing out on the right offered a chance to Hill who saw his first shot blocked before nodding home from close range to restore the two-goal cushion.
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Player-coach Jay Spearing entered the fray to sure up the middle of the park as Cannonier also came on from the bench – a welcome sight to see the young goal machine back in action after injuries have curtailed his development on the back of two impressive campaigns.
The 19-year-old England youth international was immediately in the action as he released Glatzel behind the Feyenoord defence, only to be denied by a smart save down at the frontman’s feet.
Liverpool saw out the remainder of the contest with relative ease on what was a pleasing night for the academy in terms of both result and performance.
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A superb outcome for a side, as ever much changed due to first-team involvement and other factors.
Add the likes of those aforementioned options, as well as Wellity Lucky, plus the back-to-fitness Bobby Clark to this squad and it’s clear to see that the academy is in rich health.
Jurgen Klopp’s use of the youngsters at the club has proven to be a masterstroke at times and this season has been further proof of exactly that. Nights and experiences against opponents from Europe will only further enhance the development and thus, allow their pathway to senior action to run smoother.
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