Shelvey was one of a clutch of senior stars on show at Anfield and his spectacular effort was the pinnacle of an excellent individual performance.

Nikola Saric was the other scorer after deflecting a Joe Cole effort into the goal.

The result means Liverpool finish third in their section of the Barclays Premier Reserve League North.

The fact our already-depleted U18s are set to contest a title decider on Friday morning meant second-string boss Pep Segura drafted in first-teamers Christian Poulsen, David Ngog, Cole, Danny Wilson and Shelvey for this dead rubber.

With so much experience in the side, it was hardly surprising that the Reds enjoyed the best of the early chances. On six minutes a delicious ball from Steven Irwin set Ngog on his way. The Frenchman prodded through for Tom Ince but the 19-year-old's run proved better than his touch.

A Suso corner then invited Wilson into a diving header which flew the wrong side of the woodwork at the Anfield Road End.

But it was United who struck first on 18 minutes when Marnick Vermijl navigated Irwin in the box before cutting back for Nicolas Ajose to sidefoot beyond Deale Chamberlain.

A Petrucci ricochet following decent work from Irwin almost led to a fluke equaliser seconds before Gabriel Obertan found himself with a superb opportunity eight yards out. The former Bordeaux winger skewed wide.

Next to threaten was Ngog, who swept past ex-Red Scott Wootton but in doing so found himself at an acute angle. Too acute to worry United goalkeeper Ben Amos.

Instead it was Shelvey who whacked the leveller on 32 minutes after being teed up by Cole 10 yards outside the box. Amos could only watch as the ball whizzed past him into the bottom corner before Shelvey arched away in celebration.

Ajose stung the palms of Chamberlain as the oranges were being cut but there were to be no more dents on the scoresheet before the break.

Liverpool made one change at the interval, Nikola Saric taking the place of Ngog.

It took a while for the game to get going again, with neither goal being tested until an imaginative stab from the edge of the box by Shelvey which landed on the roof of the net.

Joshua King came close to giving the visitors the lead once more on 67 minutes after going one-on-one with Chamberlain. Liverpool's stopper did just enough to slow the ball on its route towards goal before scrambling back to collect.

Chamberlain had to have his wits about him again when Obertan found himself in a shooting position. The goalkeeper used his legs and United were denied once more.

Irwin twice tried to take the initiative at the Kop end and on the second occasion it required a superb block from Vermijl for him to be denied.

One of the best opportunities of the second period fell to Cole following an inviting cross from Shelvey. The No.10 stretched to get there but his shot spun wide.

Shelvey smacked another long-range effort towards the net with 10 minutes to go but Amos dived low to keep the scores level.

If anyone was going to score it was Liverpool. Next, Ince wiggled his way through the visiting defence but lost momentum before he could get a shot away.

What looked like the winner finally arrived on 84 minutes when Shelvey fed Suso, who found Cole in the box. The England man's shot was then deflected off Saric on its way into the net. Replays showed it to be the Dane's goal.

But there was to be another twist on 87 minutes when Oliver Norwood's free-kick pinged back off the post into the path of Obertan, whose effort was too clinical for Chamberlain.

Liverpoolfc.tv man of the match: Jonjo Shelvey.

Liverpool Reserves: Chamberlain, Mendy, Irwin, Wilson, Wisdom, Poulsen, Shelvey, Ince, Suso, Cole, Ngog (Saric 45). Subs not used: Stephens, Roberts, Sokolik, Peterson.