Liverpool U21s 1-3 Sparta Prague U21s: Match Report & Barry Lewtas | OneFootball

By Dan Clubbe

Liverpool Under 21s were back in action after a prolonged break for Christmas and New Year following a weekend postponement due to a frozen pitch when Barry Lewtas’ side were due to face West Ham United at the AXA.

Instead, it was Sparta Prague for the Mini Reds in the Premier League International Cup, a competition the hosts are yet to get going in this season, losing all three of their opening three matches.

Unfortunately this clash spelt more of the same for Lewtas’ youngsters as Liverpool were outgunned on the night by a competitive Sparta side who were simply more clinical when opportunities arose.

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It all started so well for the side containing fresh from first-team duty quartet Amara Nallo, Trey Nyoni, James McConnell and Jayden Danns when the latter got on the end of a laser-guided McConnell through ball to round the goalkeeper and finished cooly to back up his Anfield FA Cup exploits on the night before his 19th birthday.

Despite some bright moments and smart touches from Danns and McConnell in particular, Spart grew in confidence and their equaliser always felt on the cards before it came.

From thereon out the visitors from the Czech capital took control of the first half, taking the lead from close range at the back post following a flicked on corner.

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The second half was more of the same as Sparta kept possession well, capitalising on some mistakes at the back to extend their lead in style from long range before the Reds stirred up some late resilience with a flurry of attacks.

Danns came off around the hour mark but McConnell remained a constant, showing his quality in advanced areas when beating two men before letting fly with a well-struck left-footed effort, albeit blocked when it looked en route to troubling the Prague goalkeeper.

Liverpool rallied late on and could perhaps count themselves unfortunate to not at least close the deficit, however, it wasn’t to be and Sparta Prague ran out 3-1 winners on a freezing cold clear night in Kirkby.

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Barry Lewtas

After the match, I spoke to the Under-21s boss to get his thoughts on the performance and a couple of the individual displays…

On the performance: “We didn’t play well, we set our standards very high and we didn’t reach the levels. It was a good game but tonight and the story of this competition is I think we’ve chucked games away and that’s the most disappointing thing.”

“I don’t think we matched their endeavour, I don’t think it was too hard to match their quality I just don’t think we matched their physical level. Their endeavour and wanting to compete and win probably got them over the line, in fairness to them they created more chances than us as well.”

“It’s not to overreact, we’ve played some nice football this year, we’ve just got to learn to cover every part of the game and tonight I just don’t think we did it.”

On Jayden Danns: “He took his goal really well, we’ve been onto the boys about running in behind so that was a real plus. The pass, we had a few moments like that, the game was actually that simple, we just needed to pass the ball more. After that, we didn’t really create an awful lot and that is disappointing.”

“I don’t think our box occupation was good enough, too many players were coming towards the ball which is why we didn’t really get many more opportunities.”

On James McConnell: “It’s good. He is one who needs more minutes, and a run of games, he’s been injured, done well, and been around the first team. We know what he is capable of doing, today he showed some nice parts, he will just want to try and find a run of games now to finish as strong as he starts.”