Liverpool’s youngest-ever team on Tuesday suffered a harsh lesson as Aston Villa ran out 5-0 winners to reach the EFL Cup semi-finals, with Jonathan Kodjia scoring twice.
An unrecognizable Liverpool lineup contained five debutants and an average age of 19 years, six months and three days, with the European champions’ first team and coaching staff, including manager Juergen Klopp, in Qatar for their FIFA Club World Cup semi-final against CF Monterrey yesterday.
That inexperience showed defensively, despite a much better performance from the visitors than the score line suggests.
Photo: Reuters
“I thought we were magnificent,” Liverpool stand-in manager Neil Critchley said. “We were really unfortunate to concede from a free-kick and a cruel deflection, and find ourselves 2-0 down.”
“It was an incredible night and no one wanted it to end,” Critchley added.
Villa made 10 changes, with Premier League survival their priority, and could have had a much tougher night had Liverpool taken advantage of a bright start.
“It was a bit of a weird game, probably the weirdest one I’ve been involved in for a quarter-final of a major competition,” Villa boss Dean Smith said.
“I came through coaching those sorts of age groups. It was great to see them on that stage tonight, so we had to be very professional,” he added,
Harvey Elliot became the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League just a month after his 16th birthday last season when at Fulham before a summer move to Anfield.
On Tuesday, he was the standout performer of Liverpool’s young crop as his driven effort produced a good early save from Orjan Nyland.
However, the floodgates opened in the 14th minute, when Conor Hourihane’s free-kick evaded everyone and flew under Caoimhin Kelleher’s grasp.
“It was a lose-lose for us,” Hourihane told Sky Sports. “Everyone expected us to win and we just had to do our jobs.”
The Ireland under-21 international goalkeeper was unfortunate again moments later when Ahmed Elmohamady’s attempted cross deflected off Morgan Boyes and looped in at the far post for an own-goal.
Kodjia had not scored this season prior to kickoff, with his chances in Smith’s first team severely restricted by the signing of Brazilian striker Wesley in the summer.
However, he made the most of the chance for a confidence boost by slotting past Kelleher and then turning home another Elmohamady cross from the right.
Villa showed some mercy by easing up on the youngsters after the break, but could still have easily scored more than five.
Wesley came off the bench to round off the scoring in stoppage-time with his first goal in 10 games.
Liverpool’s decision to play two games in two days in two different continents and with two very different squads was criticized in some quarters for showing a lack of respect to the EFL Cup.
However, amid a run of 15 games in 50 days across five competitions, it was well down the list of Liverpool’s priorities as they attempt to win their first league title in 30 years and hope to defend the UEFA Champions League come the new year.
Meanwhile, Villa can look forward to their first EFL Cup semi-final in five years, with the other three quarter-final ties scheduled for yesterday.
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