Fulham and Liverpool went head to head in a top of the table clash in the under-21 league at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool’s under-21 side was knocked off top spot in the under-21 Premier League by Fulham as the Cottagers won 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
The most high profile figure involved for Liverpool was that of Joao Carlos Texeira who played 45 minutes. It looked as if the Reds were giving the 21-year-old some game time given his involvement with the first team in the second half of the season.
Texieira returned to the place of his finest moment in a Liverpool shirt where his through ball led to a crucial penalty in the Premier League game a first team level in February, which Steven Gerrard converted on that day. He started this game brightly as he linked up well in a lot of Liverpool’s forward play.
But despite their bright start, it was Fulham that took the lead after growing into the game as Ange-Freddy Plumain’s shot went under Lawrence Vigouroux in the Liverpool goal as the visitors struggled to reply after the goal.
Teixeira replaced by Joe Maguire at the interval – who has then replaced by Ryan Kent ten minutes from time as Liverpool’s under-21 boss tinkered with the system in order to look for a goal
Lasse Vigen Christensen doubled the home side’s lead with a nice left footed finish into the bottom corner with ten minutes to go.
The final ten minutes brought about plenty of action involving striker Jack Dunn. He was denied by the goalkeeper shortly after the second goal and then was denied a penalty shout. Straight afterwards he charged down a goalkeeper clearance but the ball went narrowly wide
Dunn’s well taken penalty in added time was not enough for Liverpool after Jordan Rossiter went down in the area in the last minute of stoppage time.
There was some familiar traits in Liverpool’s performance that you see in the first team such as the eagerness to get high up the pitch to their opponents but they lacked the coolness in front of goal – or the experience in the middle of the park that you would expect from the first team.
Having been knocked off top spot, they have played two fewer games than Fulham and could leapfrog them in the coming weeks.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
