A youthful Liverpool side beat Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup thanks to local lad Curtis Jones‘ superb second-half strike.
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
FA Cup Third Round, Anfield
Sunday, 5 January 2020
Goals
Jones 71′
Jurgen Klopp named a much-rotated side, containing three players who weren’t born the last time Everton won at Anfield in 1999. Just two players – Joe Gomez and James Milner – remained from the side that beat Sheffield United three days earlier.
New signing Takumi Minamino became the first Japanese player to play for the Reds, while Nat Phillips was also making his debut and Yasser Larouci made it a trio of debutants inside the opening 10 minutes when replacing the injured James Milner.
It meant Liverpool’s side now featured seven players aged 22 or under.
Despite that, the home side had plenty of the ball and acquitted themselves well in the opening half an hour, with Neco Williams looking particularly good down the right.
At the other end, Adrian made three instinctive stops, two of them with his feet.
The closest Liverpool came to a goal in the first half was through Divock Origi after some good footwork and a shot across goal forced Jordan Pickford into an excellent save at the Kop end.
Half time: Liverpool 0-0 Everton
- Debuts for Nat Phillips and new signing Minamino
- Larouci debut early on due to Milner injury
- Jones’ superb strike on his first Anfield start
- Hugely impressive performance from Liverpool’s squad players
It remained goalless on the hour so Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti made a very attacking change to introduce Moise Kean for Seamus Coleman.
Liverpool’s youngsters continued to impress, particularly Curtis Jones in midfield – and it was the local lad who scored a stunning goal on 72 minutes to break the deadlock.
Jones curled a beauty into the far top corner past Pickford, in off the bar, in front of the 8,000 Everton fans in the away end. What a way to mark your first start at Anfield, in the derby.
Everton failed to produce any clear cut chances and Liverpool comfortably held on for an unlikely win and to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
A superb performance from the Reds’ youngsters and squad players.
Bill Shankly once said there are two teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves. These young Reds just proved that.
TIA Man of the Match: Joe Gomez
Referee: Jon Moss
Liverpool: Adrian; Williams, Gomez, Phillips, Milner (Larouci 8′); Chirivella, Lallana, Jones; Elliott (Brewster 79′), Minamino (Oxlade-Chamberlain 70′), Origi
Subs: Kelleher, Hoever, Henderson, Mane, Brewster
Everton: Pickford, Coleman (Kean 63′), Holgate, Mina, Digne, Sidibe, Sigurdsson (Delph 63′), Schneiderlin, Walcott (Bernard 79′), Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
Subs: Stekelenburg, Baines, Keane, Bernard, Davies
Next Match: Tottenham (away, Saturday 11 January, 5.30pm)
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