AcademyMatch report: Liverpool U18s defeated by Manchester City
Liverpool U18s lost 4-1 to Manchester City on Saturday.
The home team were dominant in the first half at the City Football Academy and led by two at the interval through goals from Justin Oboavwoduo and Alfie Harrison.
The young Reds’ performance improved markedly after half-time, however, and James McConnell’s 56th-minute strike got them back into the game.
But, as Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side pushed forward in search of the leveller, City hit them on the break and Daniel Ogwuru earned some breathing space before Oboavwoduo sealed the win deep into stoppage time.
City began brightly and were ahead inside the opening two minutes as Oboavwoduo converted Michael Okeke’s low delivery from the right.
Liverpool could not find a foothold in the U18 Premier League North contest as City controlled proceedings and it was no surprise when the hosts doubled their advantage around the half-hour mark.
There was a touch of fortune about the goal, though, as Oboavwoduo’s ball in from the left ricocheted off Niall Osborne and fell kindly into the path of Harrison to slot home.
With Ranel Young having picked up a knock before half-time, Bridge-Wilkinson brought on Elijah Gift at the break and immediately the substitute provided some much-needed attacking impetus.
Gift drifted inside from the right flank and curled narrowly wide, but the young Reds’ new-found positivity was rewarded when McConnell halved the deficit.
McConnell started and finished the move by intercepting a loose pass in midfield, driving forward and playing a one-two with Trent Kone-Doherty prior to dispatching a low finish.
Liverpool won a flurry of corners as they urgently sought an equaliser but a two-minute spell midway through the second half would all-but settle the outcome.
At one end, young Reds defender Charlie Hayes-Green towered above his marker but headed Tommy Pilling’s set-piece off target and at the other, Ogwuru rounded off a quick City counter-attack to make it 3-1.
And Oboavwoduo would add a fourth late on to rubber-stamp his team’s victory.
Liverpool U18s: Mrozek, Davidson, Osborne, Hayes-Green, Giblin, Laffey, McConnell (Kelly, 63), Pilling, Young (Gift, 46), Kone-Doherty (Roberts, 87), Danns.
Unused subs: Hewitson, Pitt.
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