Ojo at the double in Hammers rout
Sheyi Ojo netted a fine double as Liverpool U21s turned on the style to sink West Ham United 4-0 at Upton Park on Friday night.
Michael Beale's side produced a fantastic performance with Ryan Kent and Samed Yesil also getting on the mark.
The game started at a fast and frenetic pace. The Hammers almost took an early lead when uncertainty under pressure from goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux let in Danny Whitehead whose effort came back off the bar, and when the rebound came to Elliott Lee, somehow the Reds stopper produced a miraculous save to keep it out.
At the other end, a delighteful pass from Yesil gave Kent an opportunity but the outstretched leg of Raphael Spiegel denied the 17-year-old, then Yesil controlled a superb Connor Randall pass before firing a blistering effort against the bar.
Beale's side opened the scoring after 13 minutes with a goal of the highest quality. A lovely pass from Ojo found Kent, who timed his run to perfection before sliding the ball beyond Spiegel.
England youth international Ojo scored the goal of the night on 26 minutes when he curled home a magnificent effort from 25-yards out into the back of the net.
The pace and direct running of Kent and Ojo caused the West Ham defence problems all night and with the movement of Yesil in attack, Liverpool looked likely to score every time they came forward.
German striker Yesil, who was making his first start since returning from a long lay-off, made it 3-0 on 37 minutes when he stole in to net after West Ham failed to clear following a corner.
The second half was a much tighter affair, but with the excellent Cameron Brannagan controlling the midfield Liverpool always looked likely to score again.
Vigouroux, making his first appearance of the season since completing his summer move from Tottenham Hotspur, was determined to keep a clean sheet and he showed his qualities with a brilliant save off Lee's header.
Beale's side added a late fourth goal when Ojo raced on to a sublime pass from the oustanding Kevin Stewart, before slotting past Spiegel.
It was a great night for the young Reds in their first Barclays U21 Premier League game since August 22.
Liverpool U21s: Lawrence Vigouroux, Connor Randall (Dan Cleary 59), Joe Maguire, Kevin Stewart, Lloyd Jones, Jordan Williams, Sheyi Ojo, Cameron Brannagan, Samed Yesil (Alex O'Hanlon 59), Daniel Trickett-Smith (Sergi Canos 67), Ryan Kent. Unused sub: Andy Firth.