Valiant U18s exit Youth Cup
Liverpool U18s were eliminated from the FA Youth Cup after their unfortunate 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the second leg of their semi-final tie at Stamford Bridge on Friday night.
Kristoffer Peterson's devastating solo effort was cancelled out by goals late into the first half from John Swift and Nathan Ake - ensuring that Chelsea progressed to the final of the competition with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Despite the defeat, Steve Cooper's side performed commendably and bow out of the tournament in admirable fashion.
Fully aware of how much of a boost an early goal would deliver, the Reds poured forward in search of a breakthrough immediately after the match began.
The towering Lloyd Jones came within inches of hitting the target when he rose to meet a free-kick and powered a header narrowly over the crossbar.
Liverpool's relentless pressing paid dividends when they opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Peterson fashioned and finished the opportunity on his own in stunning circumstances.
The Swede surged along the edge of the area, skipped past defender Alex Davey and calmly side-footed an accurate shot beyond the outstretched arm of Mitchell Beeney and into the corner.
The Reds maintained their high level of pressure and were unfortunate not to bring the tie level on aggregate shortly before the half-hour mark.
Jack Dunn latched onto a through ball before being closed down by the retreating Kevin Wright. The winger shifted the ball into space with ease before rifling a stinging goalbound effort that was blocked by Davey.
Despite the tempo slowing slightly, Liverpool caused the home side another scare with little over five minutes remaining in the first half.
A Reds free-kick ricocheted off the wall and into the path of Yalany Baio. The full-back met the loose ball with a 30-yard strike that deflected off Daniel Trickett-Smith and fizzed just wide.
Following Liverpool's domination, the visitors were unlucky to be stung with just four minutes left in the opening period.
Swift - a substitute in the first leg - countered Liverpool as he raced out of his own half before laying the ball out wide. The striker continued his run as he burst into the area to meet a cross with a well-struck half-volley into the corner.
Reminiscent of the opening leg, the Blues struck again in added time to hand the home side the lead for the first time in the encounter.
Ake broke away from the crowd of players in the area to meet a corner with a solid header that flew into the net at the near post.
In identical manner to the first half, the Reds fought for a vital goal straight after the restart.
Seven minutes into the second period, Jerome Sinclair displayed impressive strength to present himself with a chance that he came agonisingly close to converting.
The forward forced his way through the area, shrugging off the challenge of Ake before slamming a shot that rattled the crossbar from close range.
Just a minute later, Chelsea found the net on a third occasion but were thwarted by the linesman.
Islam Feruz controlled an incisive pass through the defence and drilled a low shot into the net, before being rightly flagged offside.
With 25 minutes remaining, three inviting chances were created at both ends of the pitch but wayward shooting ensured those opportunities were wasted.
Two of them were presented to Alex Kiwomya, but the youngster dragged his efforts across the face of goal on both occasions, while a lack of power in Sinclair's shot meant his attempt was in vain.
The striker received an accurate through ball from Trickett-Smith before failing to trouble the Blues goalkeeper with a tame effort under pressure from the Chelsea rearguard.
Late into the battle, Chelsea skipper Nathan Baker swung a free-kick that crashed off the crossbar.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek's rebounding header was heroically parried away by the diving Ryan Fulton before Kiwomya's follow-up shot into a gaping net was ruled out for offside.
That was the last meaningful action of a tie that sees Liverpool exit the competition with their heads held high.
Reds team: Fulton, Baio, Maguire, Jones, Cleary, Lussey (c), Dunn (O'Hanlon), Rossiter (Burke), Sinclair, Trickett-Smith, Peterson.