Late Woltman Goal Salvages Liverpool Draw In Mini-Derby

The Liverpool U21 side was in action in Premier League 2 play away to local rivals Everton on Sunday afternoon. The Academy sides observed a moment of silence ahead of the match in memory of the 34th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

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Once the match got underway, Liverpool looked to get off to a fast start. Harvey Blair put an early effort on target, but Everton goalkeeper Billy Crellin made a fine save to keep the Reds off the board.

The tables were turned in just the 12th minute when Stanley Mills outran everyone to get on the end of Einar Iversen’s ball over the top of Liverpool’s defense. Mills kept his cool under pressure from a defender and calmly volleyed the ball over Marcelo Pitaluga to open the scoring.

Everton were buoyed by the goal and dominated the chances throughout the first half. Liverpool managed to weather the storm and get into the half only down a goal.

Everton looked to continue their good run of form to start the second half, and Marcelo Pitaluga was forced into a couple of big saves. He denied Stanley Mills a second goal with a good save on a low shot before shutting down Francis Okoronkwo in a 1v1 opportunity.

Liverpool did start to find their footing in the second half, however. James Norris saw a shot from distance flash just wide of the post before a Billy Koumetio attempt off of a free kick was saved by Crellin.

Ben Doak became more influential for Liverpool as the match wore on, and provided Liverpool’s best chance of the match midway through the second half. Billy Koumetio knocked a free kick down in the box for Doak to get on the end of, but the Scot saw his shot saved by a good reaction save from Crellin.

Doak was again a handful for the opposing defenders, and he forced Ishe Samuels-Smith into a bad foul in the 87th minute. Samuels-Smith was shown his second yellow of the match for the foul and was sent off.

Liverpool capitalized on having an extra man just minutes later with a great team goal. Owen Beck showed great touch to bring a ball down that was slightly behind him as he ran into the box, and maintained control despite a deflection off of a defender. Beck sent a perfect ball across the face of goal where it was tapped in to an open net by the waiting Max Woltman.

Both sides had late opportunities to steal the win, with Owen Beck involved on either end of the pitch. He cut out a square ball from Stanley Mills in his own box that would have likely found a wide open Francis Okoronkwo. On the offensive end, Beck hit a rocket from distance late in extra time that went just wide of the post.

Liverpool walked away with a draw for the second match in a row. They now sit fourth in the PL2 table with three matches left to play. Barry Lewtas’ side will host West Hame next Saturday.