Aston Villa secured a spot in the EFL Cup semi-finals with a 5-0 win over a Liverpool side made up entirely of youngsters.
2019/2020 League Cup
5-0
Match Report
Liverpool's youngest-ever team was no match for Aston Villa in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, as Dean Smith's side ran out comfortable 5-0 winners to book their place in the semi-finals.
The Reds had to name an entire squad made up of reserves and youngsters due to the first team being in Qatar for the Club World Cup, and Villa ultimately made light work of their visitors, who named an XI with an average age of 19 years and 182 days.
Under the guidance of Under-23s coach Neil Critchley, Liverpool started the encounter with purpose and could have taken an early lead, but Villa made the most of the let-offs and blew the Reds away, going into half-time four up thanks to Conor Hourihane, a Morgan Boyes own goal and a Jonathan Kodjia brace.
While Liverpool had conceded four times in the opening half of a match for the first time since Steven Gerrard's last match, away to Stoke City in May 2015, Villa were not dominant until after the break, though they only added one more through Wesley's late fifth.
Match Events
14' GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool (Hourihane)
Villa take the lead! Hourihane whips in the resulting set-piece and it goes beyond everyone in the penalty area before finding the bottom left corner.
17' OWN GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Liverpool (Boyes)
The home side quickly double their lead! After some bright play from Villa, El Mohamady’s cross from the right deflects off Boyes before looping over Kelleher and dropping into the bottom left corner.
27' Christie-Davies' shot stopped by Nyland
Elliott continues to cause Taylor problems as he this time chips the ball beyond the defender and into the path of Christie-Davies. From the right side of the box, the Liverpool midfielder forces Nyland into a smart save following his close-range effort.
37' GOAL! Aston Villa 3-0 Liverpool (Kodjia)
The home side grab their third! Jota pokes a loose ball behind Van den Berg and sends Kodjia through one-on-one with Kelleher. The forward keeps his composure before deftly steering his shot beyond the Liverpool goalkeeper.
45' GOAL! Aston Villa 4-0 Liverpool (Kodjia)
Kodjia makes it four! Jota wins the ball on the edge of the box before laying it out to the right for El Mohamady. The full-back picks his head up and slides it into the path of Kodjia who fired beyond Kelleher and into the back of the net from the centre of the box.
54' Gallacher's shot stopped by Nyland
Boyes tries his luck with a first-time effort from the edge of the box. The defender’s left-footed drive deflects off Kane and somehow Nyland readjusts to make a point-blank save and send the ball behind for a corner.
64' Trezeguet's shot over the bar
After some bright play down the left-hand side, the ball breaks to Trezeguet in the centre of the box, but the winger gets under the ball and lofts his effort well over the top of Kelleher’s goal.
75' Lansbury's shot stopped by Kelleher
Lansbury unleashes a fierce strike from the edge of the box which Kelleher parries to safety from the centre of his goal.
92' GOAL! Aston Villa 5-0 Liverpool (Wesley)
Wesley makes it five! A swift counter down the left-hand side of the field resulted in Trezeguet playing Wesley through on goal, and the forward found the bottom right corner with a low, curing effort from the centre of the box.
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