This was supposed to be a walkover, even after the tie got the go-ahead. But for 45 minutes Liverpool were driven to the brink of humiliation by little known but highly impressive upstarts, with Aston Villa forced to field a team of players who had never contested a senior match.

The youngsters shrugged off the concession of an early goal to Sadio Mané to go in level at half-time thanks to a lovely equaliser by 17-year-old Louie Barry. “I’ve never been so proud of a team,” said Barry later. “My family were probably screaming at the TV. When I scored I actually thought: ‘We might even have a chance here.’” Class and fitness eventually told, as Georginio Wijnaldum, Mané and Mohamed Salah each found the net in a quickfire second-half salvo.

Continue reading…

You May Also Like

Karl Bartos: ‘Kraftwerk turned into the dehumanisation of music’

As the band’s drummer he co-created some of history’s greatest albums –…

Medical device companies pay millions to NHS while pushing products, says study

Pharmaceutical equipment firms are funding NHS staff and training while promoting sales…

Trump booed and jeered on visit to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket

Crowd at bottom of supreme court steps boo loudly President and first…