Liverpool U21s 3–3 Crystal Palace U21s – AET (1-3 On Penalties): Match Report & Rob Page | OneFootball

Liverpool U21s 3–3 Crystal Palace U21s (Palace win 3–1 on penalties)

Liverpool U21s were knocked out of the Premier League 2 play-offs at the Round of 16 stage after a dramatic 3–3 draw ended in a 3–1 penalty shootout defeat to Crystal Palace U21s at the Academy on Sunday afternoon.

The young Reds made the perfect start, taking the lead inside 12 minutes when Will Wright finished confidently to put Liverpool ahead after holding off a defender before coolly finishing Kieran Morrison’s through ball powerfully.

However, Palace responded quickly and turned the game on its head before the half-hour mark. Rio Cardines equalised shortly after, and Zach Marsh then fired the visitors in front to give the Eagles a 2–1 lead at the break after responding to the early setback.

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Rob Page’s side rallied towards the end of the first half and took the momentum into the break, having relinquished their advantage. 

Liverpool carried that momentum into the second half and came out strongly to restore parity through Wright again, the forward grabbing his second of the game to make it 2–2, this time steering a near-post Morrison cross home to make it two assists for the captain and two goals for the frontman.

Chances flowed at both ends in an open, end-to-end encounter, with both sides pushing for a winner in normal time but unable to find a decisive goal, the hosts indebted to Hungarian goalkeeper Armin Pecsi on numerous occasions.

Extra time brought further twists. Palace regained the lead through Joseph Gibbard, only for Liverpool to hit back once more—this time via Keyrol Figueroa – heading into the back of the net from a Calvin Ramsay cross on his injury return to make it 3–3 and force a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Palace held their nerve while Liverpool faltered from the spot, ultimately losing 3–1 on penalties to exit the competition at the Round of 16 stage. Michael Laffey seeing his effort from 12 yards well saved before goalscorers Wright and Figueroa were also denied.

A thrilling, high-quality contest saw Liverpool fight back twice and show attacking promise, particularly through two-goal hero Wright. But despite their resilience, missed penalties proved costly, and Crystal Palace progressed to the quarter-finals after a dramatic afternoon on Merseyside.

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For The Reds, the defeat spells the end of the road in a competitive sense for the 25/26 campaign, a season that has brought about numerous positives but ultimately saw the young Liverpool starlets fall short at the knockout phase both domestically and in Europe. 

However, with the phenomenal number of goals and assists of Morrison, defensive improvement since Mor Talla Ndiaye’s arrival and the emergence of Wright, there are plenty of positives to take into 26/27 from Page’s first full term. 

Speaking after the match, Page was understandably downbeat but pleased with the efforts of his side…

On the performance: “I’m proud of them. Nothing but respect for the lads that are brave enough to step up and take a penalty. They go and show courage to do that. So at least they put themselves in a position where they take that responsibility for the team, so they’re all disappointed now, because we are, but we don’t like losing, but it’s part of their development. I just said that to them. And for most of the game, I was really, I thought we started really, really well. Put them on the back foot, got a great goal. And then, typical Crystal Palace, I thought it was a real game today. I thought it was a proper game of football. And we just couldn’t cope with the physicality from set plays again, which is what we’ve done in the first game. But we rose to the challenge, I thought, the changes we made definitely helped the legs of Laffey and Tommy coming on in midfield, definitely changed the game for us. And physicality, a figure of top, he gets his ball, so lots and lots of positives, part of their development. And, like I’ve just said, some for the last four months, since we probably played niece at home. 
I’ve seen a group of men develop and grow, and that’s part of this job, you know, so I’m proud of them for that.”

On Will Wright: “He’s got the physicality in abundance. There are parts of his game we want to work on. Absolutely. Absolutely. 
His link play can be a little bit better. But when you’ve got somebody of Will’s attitude, he’s brilliant to work with, because he just wants to learn every day. So, he’s a joy to come in and be around. 
As you know, Kieran, we’ve seen levels of performance from Kieran be consistent over the last four months again. You know, he was a constant threat in the second half of the game. As a game, it got longer and longer. 
I thought he grew into the game more and more and looked like a constant threat. Like I said, loads of positives, but we are particularly disappointed to go out in a manner in which we did. He’s in a good place at the moment.”

What stands out most about Wright: “His work rate. So, having been a league manager and now working in academy football. 
Sometimes it can be called a false environment. Like when you play the Arsenal of the world and the Man City, these are the technical, very, very good teams, but that’s as real a game of football as you’re going to get today. And I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve tried to change the mentality and make it a bit more real, and Will thrives on it, because he’s had that experience. He’s played league football. He knows what’s needed, and he drives the standards, all that as well. And then you’ve got, even, Josh Sonnie Lambie today. I was really pleased with his performance. Really intelligent. coming inside and finding the most pocket score. You need a balance. It’s all about balance.”

On Wright’s first team involvement: “That’s incredible. Even when they train with the 1st team, it’s incredible for them, you know, and they go over, and they enjoy the experience, and they deserve it. 
That’s the beauty of having a close relationship with the first team, that if they call for any players, we can reward the lads for doing the right thing and showing the right attitude.”

On Armin Pecsi: “Excellent. He was obviously borderline going on (at Anfield). So we had to wait until after the game. And so we got the final call, to find out we could have tried and armed, and more back down. Mor travelled with the first team yesterday, and it was good for us, and Armin is developing in the right way. You know, he’s got a bright future in front of him. There’s massive potential there, and we’re unlocking that potential week in, week out.

On Mor Talla Ndiaye: “He made some brilliant tackles later on in the game, and he knew he was on thin ice because of the booking early on. But again, part of his development, he’s had to learn to play while he’s on a booking. What I’ve seen from him is a diagonal (pass). I think we’ve seen a couple of long passes. He is brave enough to find the eights in the pocket with a pass, and intelligent enough. 
He reads the game well, and he’s aggressive. He wins some big headers today. So, all in all, there’s a lot there to work with, and a lot of potential that we see.”