Sadio Mane scored twice for the English champions while
Georginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah added one each to cancel out a fine goal
by Villa's 17-year old striker Louie Barry, who netted on his senior debut for
the Midlands side.
Villa stunned Liverpool 7-2 in the Premier League at the
same venue in October but they had no chance of emulating the success as nine
of their first team players and five staff members tested positive for COVID-19
on Thursday.
Villa's Under-23 coach Mark Delaney took charge of the game
instead of first-team manager Dean Smith and the club also closed their
training ground following the outbreak.
Mane headed Liverpool into a fourth-minute lead before Barry
enjoyed a moment of glory in the 41st, when he levelled as he raced clear of
Rhys Williams and steered a low shot into the bottom left corner.
Liverpool's incessant pressure paid dividends after the
break with Wijnaldum restoring their lead on the hour when he side-footed a
sublime shot past goalkeeper Akos Onodi after good work from Salah and Takumi
Minamino.
Mane made it 3-1 with a looping header from a Xherdan
Shaqiri cross and Salah sealed Liverpool's progress with a shot on the turn
past Onodi, who made an array of fine saves throughout the match.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was not entirely happy with
the performance, having praised the youngsters while pointing out that his side
had made too many simple errors.
"The kids did really well - that's good," he told
BT Sport.
"Problems in passing and moving. Too many on the wrong
side of the ball, not enough recoveries of passes. We had chances and shot the
ball directly at the goalie - we changed it in the second half. It was rusty
but better in the second half."
In the evening's other fixture, Wolverhampton Wanderers beat
Crystal Palace 1-0 thanks to Adama Traore's 35th-minute strike as he beat
visiting keeper Jack Butland with a thunderbolt from the edge of the penalty
area.
Wolves dominated as Fabio Silva headed over the bar early on
and Butland parried a low Nelson Semedo drive but he was powerless when Traore
teed himself up and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
The home team's manager Nuno Espirito Santo praised Traore
after the winger netted his first goal of the season in any competition.
"It was a special goal from a special player,"
said the Portuguese. "I am very happy because I think this goal will boost
his confidence. He has been really trying in training sessions and that is why
I am so happy."
0 comments:
Post a Comment