Teixeira beauty earns U21s draw
Joao Carlos Teixeira's stunning second-half free-kick ensured Liverpool U21s secured a vital point in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The Portuguese midfielder's curling set-piece cancelled out Tom Hopper's opener after tight defences prevented either side from creating any clear opportunities.
Both the Foxes and Alex Inglethorpe's charges hit the woodwork once each as the match was hotly contested, with second-half pressure from the Reds unfortunately failing to yield a winner.
After an even opening 10 minutes in which the Reds settled comfortably, the hosts began pushing forward as they looked to make their home advantage count.
Following a rapid counter-attack, Stefan Smiljanic failed to control Michael Cain's curled cross towards the back post, attempting to bring the ball down as opposed to heading it goalwards.
Minutes later, the Serb was the provider as he laid the ball across midfield for Anthony Knockaert to whip a 25-yard shot that proved to be equally fruitless as it soared well over the crossbar.
In a battle where both defences remained sturdy throughout the majority of the first period, Kristoffer Peterson nearly reaped the benefits of creating a short glimpse of goal.
The Swede picked up the loose ball down the right flank before charging into the area and slamming a low strike, but was thwarted by the legs of Foxes 'keeper Conrad Logan.
The lack of threat posed by both teams in the latter stages of the half was epitomised by a fairly tame header by Peterson as the break approached.
The winger was comfortably victorious in an aerial battle to meet a corner but the 18-year-old unfortunately failed to make the desired contact as his attempt was caught by the Leicester custodian.
Despite struggling to trouble the home side in the first half, Jack Dunn gave the Foxes plenty of cause for concern three minutes after the restart. The youngster found space to fire a 25-yard drive beyond the outstretched arm of Logan and saw it agonisingly crash back off the post.
Frustration stemming from that close attempt was compounded when an unmarked Hopper broke the deadlock with a calm header.
Harry Panayiotou met a throw-in with a lofted pass over the Reds' backline to find the forward, who remained composed as he glanced past Danny Ward and into the far corner.
Inglethorpe's charges immediately responded in perfect fashion as Teixeira levelled matters with a free-kick that appeared to take Logan by surprise.
Despite the tight angle from which the set-piece was placed, the Portuguese midfielder still managed to curl the ball from the left flank into the top corner at the near post.
That gave Teixeira a taste for goal which saw him test Logan yet again 10 minutes later with an audacious long-range strike that was palmed over.
As Liverpool grew in confidence and fought for potential victory, the hosts' goalkeeper was called into action in quick succession.
Teixeira was influential yet again as his incisive ball was controlled by Dunn before the youngster was unfortunately thwarted by Logan, who anticipated the danger well and raced off his line to block the effort.
A slightly more ambitious attempt from Adam Morgan on the right flank was met by the torso of Logan before substitute Joe Dodoo was denied by the post in the closing stages of the encounter.
The youngster raced inside from the left wing before dragging a low shot onto the near post, ensuring that the Reds secured a deserved share of the spoils.
LFC: Ward, Sama, Kelly, Jones, McLaughlin, Lussey, Rossiter, Dunn, Peterson (Brannagan 75), Morgan, Teixeira.