Mateusz Musialowski was in blistering form as the Liverpool under-18s booked a place in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup with a 4-1 victory over Burnley.
Liverpool U18s 4-1 Burnley U18s
FA Youth Cup 4th Round, Kirkby
January 18, 2022
Goals: Frauendorf 3′, Musialowski 11′ 59′, Cannonier 53′; Etaluku 57′
The young Reds were forced to wait for their cup clash as the club pushed to postpone ahead of the FA Cup third-round tie against Shrewsbury, but made up for lost time at Kirkby.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was able to name a strong side including some regulars from the under-23s, with James Balagizi and Melkamu Frauendorf among those to line up alongside Musialowski.
Absent was Kaide Gordon, who featured in the previous round against Fleetwood, but the youngster watched on from the stands along with Neco Williams, Tyler Morton, Conor Bradley, Owen Beck and Max Woltman, who had all trained with the first team that day.
There was enough attacking talent on show, though, with a brilliant run from the 16-year-old Bobby Clark seeing him beat three men into the box, and after losing his footing the ball landed for Frauendorf to finish.
Liverpool’s next came eight minutes later, with a poor goal kick from Burnley ‘keeper Sam Waller chested down by Musialowski on the halfway line, before the Pole drove the whole way up the pitch and finished emphatically for 2-0.
Oakley Cannonier hit the bar with a header elsewhere in the first half, but made sure to convert as Frauendorf cut a cross in after the break.
There was time for a consolation for Burnley, with the ball going all the way across the box for Sean Etaluku to spoil Harvey Davies’ clean sheet, but two minutes later, Musialowski had struck again.
It was another brilliant solo effort from the forward, who picked up the ball and, cutting inside onto his right, feigned a shot to buy space and then hammered an effort beyond Waller to rubberstamp the victory.
Musialowski had already scored a hat-trick in the third round, bringing his goal tally to five in two games in the FA Youth Cup, with Chelsea now to await at the next stage.
Liverpool U18s: Davies; Mabaya, Miles, Chambers, Scanlon; Bajcetic, Frauendorf, Balagizi; Musialowski, Clark (McConnell 84′), Cannonier
Subs not used: Hewitson, Lucky, Davidson, Pilling, Figueroa
Next match: Middlesbrough (A) – U18 Premier League – Saturday, January 22, 1pm (GMT)
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