Having trained with Arne Slot‘s first team on Friday, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha both started for Liverpool U18s as they beat Stoke 2-0 in the U18 Premier League.
Liverpool U18s 2-0 Stoke U18s
U18 Premier League, Kirkby Academy
November 9, 2024
Goals: Ahmed 48′, Sonni-Lambie 71′
With no Liverpool U21s match this weekend, Nyoni and Ngumoha were both called upon to play for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s under-18s on a grey morning in Kirkby.
They played as the left-sided midfielder and left winger respectively, linking up as they did against Bayer Leverkusen U19s in Tuesday’s 4-1 UEFA Youth League win.
Liverpool almost got their opener through this combination, as Nyoni threaded a great pass through to Ngumoha who nudged the ball inside for Josh Sonni-Lambie to hit the post.
In a formation closest to 4-2-3-1, with Nyoni and Ollie O’Connor covering plenty of ground in the middle, Liverpool got most of their first-half joy down the left.
The best chance of the half came when Sonni-Lambie curled a shot towards the far corner, which goalkeeper Noah Cooper pushed straight to Joe Bradshaw, who fired the rebound over from about six yards out.
Liverpool continued to get closer to going ahead before the break but Cooper stood firm in the Stoke goal.
Half time: Liverpool U18s 0-0 Stoke U18s
After the break, it didn’t take Liverpool long to get their first, Kareem Ahmed scoring just three minutes into the second half.
The goal came thanks to an excellent move down the left, in which left-back Clae Ewing ran beyond Ngumoha to then receive and deliver a low cross, that Ahmed finished at the near post having nipped in front the Stoke ‘keeper.
Louie Enaharo-Marcus nearly gifted Stoke an equaliser 10 minutes later, when a loose pass went straight to Connor Day who couldn’t convert his one-on-one opportunity.
A jinking run from Ngumoha then caused problems for the visitors as he found Sonni-Lambie in the box who set up Bradshaw to score, but the 16-year-old could only find the ‘keeper with his effort.
Stoke’s best chance of the game came 68 minutes in as they hit the inside of the post but, soon after, Sonni-Lambie doubled Liverpool’s lead with a clean finish to the ‘keeper’s bottom-left corner, from just inside the box.
Of the Reds’ starters, Ewing, Ngumoha and Nyoni proved most influential as they survived a late flurry of attacks from Stoke to maintain their two-goal advantage.
The win means Liverpool now have seven points from nine PL2 games this season.
Liverpool U18s: Hall; Pitt, Enahoro-Marcus, Pinnington, Ewing; Nyoni, O’Connor (Lonmeni 70′); Bradshaw, Ahmed, Ngumoha; Sonni-Lambie
Subs not used: Bernard, Furnell-Gill, Evers, Martin
Next match: Birmingham (A) – U18 PL Cup – Saturday, November 23, 12pm (GMT)
