What happened
This top of the table clash in the Under-18 Premier League started brightly, with Liverpool enjoying the better of the early exchanges.
City goalkeeper James Trafford endured a few nervous moments early on as his attempts to play out from the back were intercepted well by the visitors on two occasions, but they failed to punish him.
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The early pressure gave Liverpool plenty of confidence and they made their dominance count in the 21st minute as Jake Cain found the top corner from the edge of the box with a curling drive.
The young Blues reacted brilliantly and levelled the scores ten minutes later, with James McAtee calmly slotting the ball beyond Jakub Ojrzynski after a wonderful solo run.
It was now a much more even affair, but the visitors were in disbelief as they were denied three times in quick succession by some wonderful defending, including a sensational clearance off the line.
From the resulting corner, Liverpool regained the lead through Niall Brookwell, who nodded in from inside the six-yard box.
City almost found another equaliser, but Delap’s deflected effort cannoned back off the crossbar in the last action of a pulsating first-half.
Gareth Taylor’s side began the second period with great intensity and were unlucky to see Delap’s powerful drive strike the post almost immediately after the restart. The City striker finally got his goal in the 50th minute as he capitalised on some static Liverpool defending as they waited for an offside flag that never came.
Just after the hour mark, we took the lead for the first time as Delap got his second goal of the game, dinking the ball over the onrushing Ojrzynski after brilliantly out-muscling and out-pacing Billy Koumetio.
It almost got even better for the Blues, but substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens struck the base of the post. City finally established a two-goal lead, with D’Margio Wright-Phillips arrowing an effort into the top left corner in the 72nd minute from 20 yards after some neat dribbling.
The Blues continued the relentless pressure and as the visitors pushed forward to get themselves back into the game, Delap led a blistering counter attack, playing Bynoe-Gittens through, who rounded Ojrzynski and slotted in for our fifth goal to cap off a fine afternoon.
What it means
The victory keeps City at the top of the U18 Premier League table with five victories from five matches. The Young Blues have now scored 22 goals and have only conceded four times.
How we lined up
James Trafford started in goal, with Sammy Robinson, Finley Burns, CJ Egan-Riley and Oscar Tarensi making up the back four.
Alex Robertson, Oscar Bobb and James McAtee played in midfield, whilst skipper D’Margio Wright-Phillips and Samuel Edozie provided the width for front-man Liam Delap.
What’s next
Our U18 side face a trip to Blackburn next in the U18 Premier League, with the match scheduled for Saturday 21 September at 11am BST.
