Two goals from Lewis Koumas gave Liverpool U21s a 4-2 victory at Crystal Palace, with two 16-year-olds starting at centre-back for the young Reds.
Crystal Palace U21s 2-4 Liverpool U21s
PL2, CPFC Academy
October 1, 2023
Goals: Ola-Adebomi 12′, Umeh 90+4′; Musialowski 31′, Glatzel 42′, Koumas 51′ 86′
With injuries piling up and other players involved at senior level, a young U21s side made the trip to London to face Crystal Palace on Sunday.
That included two 16-year-olds at centre-back as Carter Pinnington and new signing Amara Nallo started, while Koumas made his third consecutive start in attack.
Liverpool began strong, with three chances in quick succession blocked by Palace defenders, but it was the hosts who took the lead.
Striker Ademola Ola-Adebomi broke the deadlock in the 12th minute with a fine touch, turn and finish beyond the outstretched Marcelo Pitaluga.
From there, though, the young Reds gained momentum, with both Koumas and Bobby Clark denied before Mateusz Musialowski‘s one-two with Tom Hill led to a goal from the Polish winger.
Two yellow cards for Justin Devenny brought Palace down to 10 men, while Paul Glatzel made it 2-1 to Liverpool before half-time, a close-range header making it goals in consecutive games for the striker.
Koumas then netted the first of his brace shortly after the restart, racing onto a Luke Chambers free-kick and finishing well.
The Wales youth international made it 4-1 late on, before a consolation effort from Franco Umeh gave Palace another positive to cling to after a tough defeat.
For Liverpool, it was a welcome bounce back from their 2-1 loss to Monaco in midweek, with 16-year-old Trey Nyoni coming off the bench to join Nallo in his U21s league debut.
Liverpool U21s: Pitaluga; Miles (Davidson 90+1′), Pinnington, Nallo, Chambers; McConnell, Hill (Nyoni 90+1′), Clark; Musialowski, Koumas (Kone-Doherty 87′), Glatzel
Subs not used: Kelly, Pilling
Next match: Blackpool (A) – EFL Trophy – Tuesday, October 10, 7pm (BST)
