U21s beat Reading to claim fourth consecutive win
Liverpool U21s claimed their second win this week and a fourth on the run in all competitions by beating Reading 2-0 at Lookers Vauxhall Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Brooks Lennon followed up his FA Youth Cup goal in midweek with a first-half strike to give the young Reds an advantage they merited at the interval.
Within three minutes of the restart, Harry Wilson added to the opener by winning and converting a penalty, and Michael Beale’s team comfortably kept their visitors at bay from then on.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward captained a strong Reds side at Chester FC, featuring a number of players who have gained first-team experience under Jürgen Klopp in recent months.
The first chance of note was forged by Wilson in the 11th minute. Having stolen possession on the edge of his own area, the Welshman surged forward and fed Lennon to his right, but the latter’s eventual shot on the angle was blocked at the near post.
Beale’s charges quickly settled into a rhythm and Ryan Kent’s neat step-overs, coming in from the left flank, created room for a strike that was blocked. Pedro Chirivella fired the rebound over the crossbar.
Kent’s movement from the wing should have seen Liverpool take the lead moments later. The 19-year-old crept in unnoticed to meet Wilson’s precise diagonal into the area, only to lean back and skew the effort too high.
But the Reds did break the deadlock nine minutes before the interval.
Alex O’Hanlon dispatched a long ball from deep to the supporting run of Connor Randall along the right and the full-back picked out Lennon at the second attempt, allowing the American to sweep a shot underneath the ‘keeper for 1-0.
Reading’s threat to this point had been restricted almost wholly to set-pieces, with little for Ward to do, and the one-goal advantage was still in place when the referee blew his whistle for half-time.
And the second period had only just started when Liverpool doubled their lead.
Wilson and Randall combined to complete a superb one-two inside the opposition box and as the former sprinted through intending to shoot, Dominic Hyam knocked him to the ground and conceded a penalty.
The winger took the responsibility from 12 yards himself and carefully tucked his spot-kick past the reach of Reading stopper Stuart Moore and into the bottom right corner.
The visitors made attacking changes to try to get back into the contest, but Andrija Novakovich squandered their finest opening on 72 minutes after sneaking behind the assured Tiago Ilori and rolling his finish wide of the left post from close range.
Diligent defending by Randall in the six-yard box prevented Tariqe Fosu’s dangerous delivery from generating a goal and Beale’s side preserved the clean sheet in the remainder to secure a deserved victory.
Liverpool U21s: Ward, Randall, Hart, Ilori, Maguire, Virtue, Wilson, Chirivella (Phillips), Lennon, O'Hanlon, Kent (Dunn). Unused substitutes: Cleary, Firth, Brewitt.