Liverpool faced Aston Villa’s U-23 side in their FA Cup third round tie at Villa Park on Friday, and they won the game 4-1 thanks to three quickfire second half goals from Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Aston Villa only confirmed their participation in the game on the day of the match after a coronavirus outbreak hit their first team. They were forced to field their U-23 side as the FA stated that teams that had up to 14 fit players had to complete their FA Cup fixtures this week. The team was coached by U-23 manager, Mark Delaney.
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp fielded a very strong team, and winger Sadio Mane scored with a header just 4 minutes into the match. Against the run of play, 17 year old Villa striker, Louie Barry equalised for his side in the 41st minute, sparking wild celebrations. It looked like the Villa kids were going to frustrate the league champions successfully, with young goalkeeper Akos Onodi making a string of wonderful saves. It was not until Klopp brought on a number of reinforcements that Liverpool finally scored their second goal through Wijnaldum in the 60th minute, before Mane added a third, his second of the night in the 63rd minute, and Salah capped off a satisfying night for both sides with a neat finish into the bottom corner in the 65th minute.
