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Talk about an answer. Within days of being on the receiving end of a win, Liverpool’s Under-23s gave an emphatic response, and against the ideal opposition as well.
The young Reds earned a 5-3 win over Manchester United at the Leigh Sports Village in their Premier League 2 clash on Friday night.
Barry Lewtas’ team, which beat Wigan Athletic 6-1 in the EFL Trophy Tuesday night, took the lead early and were not flattered by three goals in the first half hour.
Leighton Clarkson opened the scoring in the 11th minute, Ben Woodburn added a second 11 minutes and Jack Bearne then scored.
Anthony Elanga scored a goal in the 36th minute before Bearne scored again in injury time in the first half.
Luis Longstaff scored Liverpool’s fifth after taking advantage of a mistake by beleaguered United goalkeeper Onrej Mastny before Hannibal Mejbri and Charlie McCann gave the scoreboard a deceptive tilt with late goals for the hosts.
Both sides finished with 10 men when Clarkson was properly sent off for a strong challenge on Di’shon Bernard in midfield and United winger Shola Shoretire followed him to retaliate during the melee that followed.
Liverpool are next in action on Tuesday when an Under-21 team travel to Tranmere Rovers for their second EFL Trophy game.
Clarkson is disappointed
Considering that he is still the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool history, Woodburn might have expected his name to be spelled correctly.
However, the roster stated that the Reds would be patronized by Ben Woodbridge.
Never mind. It didn’t take long for the midfielder to stamp his name on this game, shooting from range like a forward before scoring on the post after Jake Cain won the ball from United’s Hannibal.
Woodburn also showed true captaincy qualities by defending his teammate Bearne after the winger was pushed off by Bernard as United struggled to cope with the end of such a heavy beating.
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The aftermath of that incident was still simmering when Clarkson, whose goal was his second in three days, was disappointed with a poor two-foot challenge over Bernard that resulted in a well-deserved red card.
It was all so unnecessary, the obvious low point of a great night for the Reds. Now Clarkson will be out of the game for three games while he was getting into shape.
Thousand time while Béarn shoots
This could easily have been labeled the battle of the leftists.
United could boast that Elanga found his goal, received a warning from Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley and was by far the most dangerous player on the home team.
But he was overshadowed by Liam Millar, whose previous first-team and international experience has been evident at this level and this season.
Millar took Lukasz Bejger’s beating in the first half to such an extent that United’s right-back did not appear for the second half, replaced as an act of mercy.
And the combination of the Canadian on the left with Yasser Larouci, back in the starting lineup after injury, was influential in Liverpool’s start. Only the crossbar denied Millar a well-deserved goal in the end.
On the other flank, Bearne had to give up Harvey Elliott often last season for the Under-23s when he was not affected by injury.
However, with Elliott now largely installed with the first team, Bearne has benefited from overtime.
In addition to providing starter assist, he was twice on hand to benefit from the good work of lone forward Longstaff, whose selfless efforts deserved his back hit.
Playing Klopp style
Victory against United is savored at any level. But the way Liverpool destroyed their bitter North West rivals was particularly enjoyable.
These were the young Reds playing in the Jurgen Klopp mold: pressing high, full of intensity and energy, and producing quality when it mattered, particularly during their devastating first half.
Character was shown in responding to that punishing loss in Wigan on Tuesday night, when some hard lessons were learned.
But Lewtas will also be pleased with how his team turned their initial dominance into goals, the failure of which had cost Liverpool in their last two outings.
And while United’s late recovery will have bothered, the hard work was already done.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Winterbottom; Bradley, Clayton (Beck 90), Savage, Larouci; Clarkson, Cain, Woodburn; Bearne (Dixon-Bonner 72), Longstaff (O’Rourke 81), Millar. Subs: Davies, Sharif.
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