Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle and Adrian Bernabe, all of whom played for the first-team on our tour of Asia, were on target, while Joel Latibeaudiere’s goal sparked passionate celebrations after his injury disrupted 2018/19.
It was an end to end encounter at Anfield, where Rhian Brewster levelled from the penalty spot after Harwood-Bellis’ opener, but City’s cutting edge proved superior and moved Paul Harsley’s side up to eighth place in the Premier League 2.
What happened
An open and entertaining first half sprang to life as early as the fourth minute when City ‘keeper Louie Moulden denied Brewster after misplacing a pass straight to the feet of Harvey Elliott.
Having survived the scare, City made the hosts pay with a perfectly executed set-piece.
Doyle arrowed a corner to the far post and Harwood-Bellis rose highest to power home a header at the Kop end.
He wheeled away in delight, but the joy lasted just three minutes, with Brewster calmly converting his spot-kick after his through ball had caused Eric Garcia to tangle with Curtis Jones.
It remained a breathless game as an enthralling battle between defence and attack ensued.
Nabil Touaizi saw a shot blocked after some nice footwork and new-recruit Morgan Rogers was denied by Daniel Atherton in the Liverpool goal, while at the other end, Moulden produced a fine save to repel Brewster before tipping Elliott’s curling effort over the bar.
We appeared to be heading into the break all square until Atherton came racing off his line and felled Bernabe in the area to give City a golden opportunity to go in ahead.
The crowd in the Kop did their best to put Doyle off, but he was unaffected, crashing his spot-kick into the top right corner.
We extended our advantage three minutes into the second period after another well worked set-piece.
Doyle was again the provider, sending a corner into the heart of the six-yard area and Latibeaudiere got across his man to force the ball over the line despite Atherton’s efforts.
The game was far from over, though.
Moulden saved with an outstretched leg to maintain the upper hand in his battle with Brewster and from there City began to exert more control.
Rogers miscued from six yards and then saw a good effort saved before he picked out Bernabe with a low centre and the Spaniard coolly dispatched into the bottom right corner to put our youngsters in a commanding position with 17 minutes remaining.
Harsley’s side kept their foot on the gas and Atherton was forced into a quadruple save as the ball pinballed across the goal line in a moment which reflected our second half dominance and we duly saw out the game to deservedly claim all three points.
How we lined up
Moulden was in goal and shielded by a back four of Latibeaudiere, Garcia, Harwood-Bellis and Nathanael Ogbeta,
Doyle skippered the side and sat deepest in midfield, with Bernabe and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru ahead of him, while the front three was spearheaded by Touaizi, with Rogers and Jaden Braaf on either flank.
Up next
The Premier League 2 pauses for the international break, meaning City are next in action at 1pm on Saturday 14 September, when Wolves visit the City Football Academy.
The West Midlands outfit have made an identical start to the season to ourselves, with four points from their opening four games, though we sit two places above them in the table due to our superior goal difference.
