A much youthful Aston Villa side came out second best against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on Friday night at Villa Park as the Merseysiders booked their spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-1 scoreline in their favour.
Mohammad Salah netted twice on either side of the half and goals each from Gini Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane meant that Klopp’s men were finally back to winning ways.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
Changes were wholesale in the Liverpool FC XI that took the field against their Midlands-based opponents, who themselves had to draft a lineup solely of youth players due to the outbreak of COVID-19 at the club.
It did not take long for the visitors to get the better of their youthful opposition, with Curtis Jones’ cross being headed into the back of the net by the lurking Sadio Mane.
Aston Villa’s man between the sticks for the cup tie Akos Onodi was instrumental in keeping his side in the mix, making a couple of important saves in the minutes following Mane’s opener for the Reds.
17y 201d – Louie Barry, aged 17 years and 201 days, is the youngest player to score an FA Cup goal for a Premier League team since Rony Lopes (17y 8d) in January 2013 for Manchester City vs Watford. Gifted. pic.twitter.com/Y020bcJtdv
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 8, 2021
Liverpool FC’s hopes of going into the first-half break with their lead intact was blown out of water when a devastating counter-attack from the hosts led to Louie Barry calmly slotting the ball past Caoimhin Kelleher in the visitor’s goal.
Thiago Alcantara’s arrival on the pitch at Villa Park following the second-half whistle gave Klopp’s side much more creativity whilst going forward and goals soon started to come in abundance for the English top-flight champions.
First, it was Gini Wijnaldum who gave his side their one-goal advantage back, with the Dutchman slotting a precise finish into the bottom corner after being set up by Salah.
Then it was Mane who got his brace in superb fashion, another header from the Liverpool FC star forward getting the better of Onodi in the Aston Villa goal.
Job done ✅
The Reds go through to the next round of the #FACup 🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 8, 2021
Salah finally wrapped up the proceedings as he sought to drive through his finish into the far corner of the net, bringing up Liverpool FC’s fourth goal of the night and booking their place into the fourth round of the domestic cup competition.
