Aston Villa vs Liverpool. The FA Cup Third Round.
Villa Park.
Match report as Aston Villa provide FA Cup third-round scare for Liverpool through Louie Barry's equaliser before second-half goals from Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah ensure Reds progress
Saturday 9 January 2021 09:07, UK
Aston Villa's academy youngsters produced a valiant effort as Liverpool survived a first-half scare to win 4-1 and progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Following a Covid outbreak in their first-team squad, Villa were forced to field an Under-23 side, and Sadio Mane headed the Premier League champions in front inside four minutes.
But Louie Barry equalised (41) memorably on the stroke of half-time to spark hopes of a fairy-tale result for Mark Delaney's young team.
Liverpool's superior quality told, however, as three quickfire second-half strikes from Georginio Wijnaldum (60), Mane (63) and Mohamed Salah (65) ensured there would be no stunning upset.
The Aston Villa starting line-up did not have a single senior appearance between them and an average age of just 18 years and 294 days. Unsurprisingly, Liverpool needed just four minutes to take the lead when Mane headed in Curtis Jones' cross from the right.
Jurgen Klopp's side had several opportunities to extend their lead as Wijnaldum wasted a glorious chance when found again in space by Jones. Akos Onodi then saved well to deny Fabinho from 12 yards before the Hungarian stopper kept out a low effort from Salah.
But Villa grew into the contest and stunned Liverpool five minutes before the break when they levelled. Barry raced onto Callum Rowe's pass to go clean through and calmly beat Caoimhin Kelleher. It sparked emotional scenes as Barry raced to celebrate with his substitutes.
Stephen Warnock told Sky Sports News: "It has been truly brilliant from Aston Villa's youngsters. But Jurgen Klopp will be furious. He will be telling his team they have to move the ball quicker and do things a lot sharper."
Liverpool had 83 per cent possession in the first half, but Klopp still turned to Thiago Alcantara at the break in place of Jordan Henderson.
Anything Villa produced in the second half would have been a bonus, but Liverpool immediately reasserted themselves as James Milner's corner was headed towards goal by Fabinho to bring Onodi straight into action.
The visitors thought they had restored their advantage eight minutes into the restart when Thiago slipped a pass inside for Neco Williams that was lashed home at the second attempt by Salah, but only after he had taken the ball out of Onodi's hands in front of referee Craig Pawson.
Villa were defending resolutely but they were finally breached on the hour mark as Takumi Minamino set up Wijnaldum for a fine finish from the edge of the box low to Onodi's left. Within four minutes and 20 seconds, the visitors had a three-goal cushion.
First, relentless pressure led to Mane doubling his tally for the evening as the Senegal international escaped Jake Walker to meet Xherdan Shaqiri's cross to loop his header beyond Onodi, and barely two minutes later, Salah took another Shaqiri pass to turn and fire low into the same corner having been afforded too much space by Mungo Bridge. It was the first mistake the youngster made all night.
Villa were tiring and began to cramp, as Liverpool looked to add to their lead with Roberto Firmino introduced. The Brazilian dragged an effort wide in the closing stages before Thiago, in cruise control since coming on at half-time, nearly capped his cameo with a goal as his strike from distance thudded off the bar.
Four times in Liverpool's history have they won FA Cup semi-finals on this ground and gone on to win the cup. They will hope this is a good omen, but the night belonged to the pride of Aston Villa's youngsters.
Aston Villa boss Mark Delaney to BT Sport: "We are all very proud as a club, as coaches and players. That was a monumental effort considering what the players have had to go through.
"We deserved to go in at 1-1. It was a good goal. We knew they'd have a lot of ball and the potential of conceding early goals. We reacted very well and stuck together. We didn't give them too much territory.
"We thought maybe one or two bits of quality and we might get something and we did. Three or four passes and a lovely through ball. We know Louie Barry is a goal scorer and he took it ever so well. We see it every day. To do it on this stage against a quality team, he showed real composure.
"We are a very young group in the 23s. We do concede early goals sometimes. We showed a togetherness."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to BT Sport: "First of all we have to say that the kids did really well. So that's good.
"We scored a nice goal but from that moment on we didn't pass with the right speed. We had football problems and we solved them in the second half with football.
"We had too many players on the wrong side of the ball. It was a bit of a rusty start but in the second half it was exactly how we wanted it."
It is over three years since Villa started anybody as young as the average age of their starting XI in any competition - Jake Doyle-Hayes vs Middlesbrough in September 2017 aged 18 years and 263 days.
Kesler Hayden was one of five Villa starters who was not even born when James Milner made his first FA Cup appearance in January 2003 but the right-back was one of the many in claret and blue who impressed.
The 17-year-old was full of purposeful running, especially in the first half, on the right while he also showed great athleticism to cover his team-mates with several important blocks to frustrate Liverpool for an hour.
Analysis from Sky Sports' Stephen Warnock:
"It was a quite brilliant first half from Aston Villa's youngsters. They grew in confidence off the back of Mane's opener and came back into the game. It was a brilliant finish from Barry and reminded me of a young Michael Owen when he first burst onto the scene.
"Thiago entered the pitch at half-time and Liverpool took control of the game in the second half. Villa's youngsters acquitted themselves very well and there was always the fear that there could be an upset which played on their minds in the first half.
"Liverpool have been going through a tough run but their experience, superior strength, quality and tactical awareness all came into play in the second period."
Aston Villa are set to face Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday January 13, live on Sky Sports; kick off 8.15pm. However, there are doubts as to whether the game will go ahead after the coronavirus outbreak in the Villa first-team squad.
Liverpool's next encounter is a week on Sunday when they face Manchester United in the Premier League, live on Sky Sports; kick off 4.30pm.
