Liverpool U18s came from behind to beat Birmingham U18s 3-1 and top their U18 PL Cup group, narrowly progressing to the quarter-finals as a result.
Birmingham City U18s 1-3 Liverpool U18s
U18 PL Cup (3), The Knighthead Training and Academy Grounds
November 23, 2024
Goals: Robinson 15′; Ahmed 41′, Sonni-Lambie 45′, Bradshaw 87′
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s under-18s scraped through their PL Cup group to reach the quarter-finals of the PL Cup.
Only the first-place finisher in the group, which also included Arsenal and Crystal Palace would go through and, Liverpool having lost to the former but beaten the latter, needed to win.
This didn’t look likely at one point in the afternoon, as Kaide Robinson gave Birmingham the lead after 15 minutes and should have doubled the advantage from Briar Bateman’s pullback 10 minutes later.
After that, though, Liverpool were the better team and the tide turned drastically before the break, thanks to two goals in quick succession from the Reds.
Kareem Ahmed scored for the second game in a row, to equalise for Liverpool, and Josh Sonni-Lambie converted a penalty to complete the turnaround just before half time.
At this point, the Reds were level on points with Crystal Palace and Arsenal, who had played out a 2-0 win for the Eagles earlier in the day.
The Reds also had the same goal difference as Crystal Palace. That was until Liverpool attacker Joe Bradshaw netted towards the end to secure their passage into the last eight of the competition.
Coach Bridge-Wilkinson told Liverpool’s website after the game: “It was disappointing to go a goal down quite early but the lads did really well, stuck at it.
“Really tough conditions for both teams, strong wind across the pitch and obviously a wet, windy day. It was moments of quality I think that were probably the most important thing.
“The lads fought, scrapped and did everything they could, but the moments of quality – we scored three good goals.”
Among those playing against Birmingham were Sonni-Lambie and Rio Ngumoha, both of whom will hope to be involved in Wednesday’s upcoming UEFA Youth League match against Real Madrid with the under-19s.
The match will be Liverpool’s final of the league phase, in which they must finish in the top 22 of 36 to progress.
At the moment, they have seven points from four games, leaving them 13th and three points above 23rd-placed PSG U19s.
Liverpool U18s: Hall; Furnell-Gill, Evers, Airoboma, Enahoro-Marcus; O’Connor, Ewing, Ahmed; Ngumoha, Sonni-Lambie, Bradshaw
Next Match: LFC U19s vs. Real Madrid U19s (H) – UEFA Youth League – Wednesday, November 27, 3pm (GMT)
