Reds ease past Aston Villa kids into FA Cup fourth round

 

This was supposed to be a walkover, even after the tie got the go-ahead. But for 45 minutes Liverpool were driven to the brink of humiliation by little known but highly impressive upstarts, with Aston Villa forced to field a team of players who had never contested a senior match.

The youngsters shrugged off the concession of an early goal to Sadio Mané to go in level at half-time thanks to a lovely equaliser by 17-year-old Louie Barry. “I’ve never been so proud of a team,” said Barry later. “My family were probably screaming at the TV. When I scored I actually thought: ‘We might even have a chance here.’” Class and fitness eventually told, as Georginio Wijnaldum, Mané and Mohamed Salah each found the net in a quickfire second-half salvo.

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