AcademyYouth League match report: Ahmed and Sonni-Lambie strike as Liverpool beat Galatasaray

Rob Page’s team produced a display full of attacking impetus at Esenler Stadium in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon and got their rewards for it.

Kareem Ahmed put them in front within a minute of kick-off and Josh Sonni-Lambie followed up his assist for that goal with a strike of his own midway through the first half.

After a goalless 90 minutes on matchday one against Atletico Madrid, the Reds found the target with just 58 seconds on the clock here.

A superb opener it was, too, with a coordinated press on the edge of the Galatasaray penalty area forcing the hosts into giving up possession.

Single touches each by Carter Pinnington and Sonni-Lambie neatly set up Ahmed, who dispatched a precise first-time finish into the bottom left corner.

It could have been 2-0 before the game was three minutes old. Lucas Pitt moved into space on the right flank from a raking pass and his centre could not be cleared by Yusuf Kahraman. Sonni-Lambie spun and shot but Enes Buyuk reacted brilliantly to tip the ball against the post.

Page’s side were purring and only a last-ditch sliding challenge denied Trent Kone-Doherty a close-range finish when Pitt got in behind again and squared.

From the resulting corner, a deep delivery picked out Wellity Lucky and his downward header was clawed off the line by Buyuk, before Joe Bradshaw rocketed a strike into the top corner from an offside position.

Goal No.2 did arrive on 20 minutes. Kone-Doherty swirled in a cross from the left for Sonni-Lambie, whose header was saved but became a rebound to tuck in.

Galatasaray began to gain a foothold in the aftermath, without truly troubling the visitors, and the woodwork soon saved them once more.

Alvin Ayman’s lofted cross from the left wing was plum for Sonni-Lambie and his nod aimed at the right side of goal bumped away off the upright.

Kone-Doherty also dragged narrowly wide of the near post from the edge of the box before a hugely dominant half for Liverpool drew to a close.

Galatasaray got themselves on the front foot when play resumed and Furkan Kocak was able to fire in a shot from a cutback that was deflected behind.

The same player later dribbled into some shooting space to the right corner of the Reds’ area, though his scooped effort was catching practice for Bailey Hall.

Galatasaray’s goalkeeper smothered Kone-Doherty at the end of a counter-attack, before they somehow escaped conceding a third time from the corner.

A strike from Bradshaw was saved and so was Kone-Doherty’s rebound yards out, then Emmanuel Airoboma was blocked at close range by Kahraman and Ege Arac.

Buyuk gloved out a firm half-volley from Liverpool substitute Scofield Lonmeni, who was next kept at bay by a late Galatasaray intervention from Oliver O’Connor’s pullback.

The lively Lonmeni also rasped a decent hit that was repelled by the ’keeper as a third evaded the Reds but was comfortably not needed.

In the final act of the encounter, Galatasaray’s Yasin Kasal was shown a straight red card for a high-footed tackle on Tyler Martin.

Team

Liverpool: Hall, Pitt, Airoboma (Upton, 83), Lucky, Ayman, Pinnington, Bradshaw (Lonmeni, 68), Nyoni, Sonni-Lambie (Martin, 90), Ahmed (O’Connor, 68), Kone-Doherty.

Unused subs: Cisse, Misciur, Clarke, M. Wright.

Next up

Another away trip awaits the Reds on matchday three of the Youth League, this time travelling to German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.

That game is scheduled for a 1pm BST kick-off on Wednesday October 22.