A SUPERB comeback from two goals down helped Liverpool under-18s stay top of the North West section of the FA Premier Academy League as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-2 at the Kirkby Academy on Saturday.
Hughie McAuley’s side made it six wins from seven matches as goals from Lauri Dalla Valle, Astrit Adjarevic substitute James Ellison and Marvin Pourie completed their fightback.
The visitors were 2-0 up after just 16 minutes with Michael Wardle scoring from close-range following a corner and Sam Winnall fired in from 20 yards. .It could have been worse six minutes later had Kyle Bennett not saw his shot rebound back off the bar
Liverpool took advantage of their good fortune to reduce the arrears soon after.
Finnish 17-year-old striker Dalla Valle, fresh from signing his first professional contract with the club last week, celebrated the deal by firing in his fourth goal of the season from 12 yards.
The goal gave Liverpool the impetus and on the half-hour they were level following a fine move on the counter-attack.
After a Wolves corner was cleared Tom Ince put Dalla Valle away on the left and after tThe Finn then set up Swedish midfielder Ajdarevic to fire in a thunderous shot.
In the second half Liverpool pressed for all three points David Amoo fired wide while Ellison saw a header tipped over by Richard Woolley.
But Substitute Ellison put Liverpool ahead for the first time in the match with just seven minutes left when he cracking in a superb long-range effort into top corner.
Then German striker Pourie sealed the points with a close range effort for Liverpool’s fourth. and his seventh of the season
McAuley was delighted with his side’s fighting spirit to come back. He said: “It was a disappointing first half, but we did manage to score two good counter-attack goals late on to go in level at the break. We weren’t playing well, though. We weren’t passing the ball well enough and we certainly weren’t defending well enough for my liking. The second half was better. While it wasn’t brilliant it was better.
“We brought on James Ellison, for Tom Ince, who had done well down the left. But we just wanted players on the pitch who might score a goal and James has a good track record in doing that. He took his chance well.”
“From a football point of view it was probably our worst performance, but we ended up winning it. But as I keep saying we have people in the team who will score goals and that is what got us through on Saturday.”
He added: “We lacked a little bit of composure and our passing game, but we came through that. The one thing you can’t fault with our players is their determination or effort. Every game we play that is always there. That is good because if you only have to talk about the tactical side, that is what we want. You never have to talk about players going missing or a lack of character.
“So on the day we got a decent result which keeps us top of the league”
Liverpool will look to keep ahead of their rivals at the top of table at Blackburn Rovers this Saturday (kick- off 11am). McAuley said: “We face two away games against Blackburn and Manchester United next and they will be tough. We always have good games at Blackburn and we got a good result there last year. We just have to go out and set our stall out correctly. We need to start well and getting our passing game going and if we do that we have enough players to create chances and score goals.”
Alex Kacaniklic (hamstring) is expected to return this weekend, while Adam Pepper and Alex Cooper, who have both been suffering with groin strains, should also be available again.
LIVERPOOL UNDER-18s: Hansen; Scott, Metcalf, Kennedy, Buchtmann; Amoo, Ajdarevic, Roberts (O’Connor 79), Ince (Ellison 65); Dalla Valle, Pourie. Subs: Duyan.
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