Youthful Reds have no answer as Villa reach Cup semi-finals
ASTON VILLA routed Liverpool 5-0 to take their place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, yet the youngest Reds line-up in the club’s history was far from disgraced.
With Jurgen Klopp and his entire first-team squad on Club World Cup duty in Qatar this week, it was an unrecognisable Liverpool side that took to the Villa Park pitch, comprised entirely of academy players, and with five making their senior debuts.
In the end, it was a Villa ‘reserve’ team that eased into the last-four courtesy of first-half goals from Conor Hourihane, an own goal from Morgan Boyes, two for Jonathan Kodjia and a second-half strike from Wesley.
With an average age of 19, and under the guidance of Under-23
coach Neil Critchley, Liverpool’s youngsters started brightly against a lethargic Villa and came close to embarrassing the more hardened professionals in front of them.
Against the run of play Villa, showing 10 changes to the team beaten 2-0 by Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday, grabbed the opener in the 14th minute.
Hourihane netted his sixth goal of the season by whipping in a low free-kick from the lefthand edge of the area.
Three minutes later Liverpool found themselves two goals down, as Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross from the edge of the box nicked off the boot of the unfortunate Boyes.
It was two goals from Kodjia in the final eight minutes of the first half, though, that killed off the visitors’ challenge.
The striker’s first was a deft flick after Jota had teed him up for his first goal since May.
The second was a sidefoot finish from six yards that was the culmination of an incisive move involving roving winger Jota and Elmohamady, before Wesley added a late fifth.