Liverpool under-21s earned a 4-2 victory away against Crystal Palace in Premier League 2 at the weekend.
The young Reds battled from behind before Mateusz Musialowski equalised in the 31st minute. Liverpool were then given a significant advantage when Justin Devenny was sent off when issued a second yellow card and Paul Glatzel bagged his second goal in as many games to give the visitors the lead. Glatzel has recently recovered from a year-long hamstring injury, with under-21s boss Barry Lewtas admitting the striker could depart in the January transfer window.
Then in the second half, the Reds stamped their authority on the game through a Lewis Koumas double before Palace bagged a consolation goal in stoppage-time.
Featuring for Liverpool in south London was 16-year-old Amara Nallo, who joined from West Ham United in the summer transfer window. Trey Nyoni, also 16, was on the bench having joined from Leicester City. Highly-rated duo Luke Chambers and Bobby Clarke – who notched a third assist of the season – played the entire 90 minutes.
Speaking to the club’s website, Lewtas said: “I thought we started fantastically well considering that was a really experienced Crystal Palace team. We had some real close games with them last year but that was a real experienced one.
“To start the game the way we did was really important. We had two 16-year-olds at centre-back and they played with brilliant maturity. We went a goal behind but I think we showed real good character in terms of how we responded to that. Obviously, when they went down to 10 men, it changes the game but I don’t think the momentum of the game changed. I still felt we were the team in the ascendancy and, in the end, it was a good result.”