Liverpool U19s set up a mouthwatering UEFA Youth League quarter-final tie with Sporting CP after defeating FC Porto on penalties on an action-packed night at Kirkby.
Jorge Meireles kept his cool to stroke home a controversial penalty early in the first half to hand the visitors a shock lead but Reds forward Melkamu Frauendorf made sure penalties would be required at the Academy as he drew his side level 10 minutes after the break.
Porto were unable to capitalise on Ben Doak’s missed penalty as Barry Lewtas’ side kept their cool to dispatch their remaining five efforts. Jesus Diaz - the brother of Liverpool star Luis - smashed his effort against the crossbar to hinder his side’s hope of securing European glory this campaign. A further penalty was then dispatched by Luca Stephenson, with a miss from Umaro Cande wrapping it up for the Reds.
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Following Liverpool’s 6-5 shoot-out win, tempers boiled on Merseyside with Porto clearly irritated by the hosts’ celebrations and their subsequent reaction sparked a mass on-field brawl. The incident resulted in Lewis Koumas, as well as two Porto players, being shown a red card after the full-time whistle.
For the one-legged tie, manager Barry Lewtas faced his first European game of the season without his imperious captain Jarell Quansah, who made the switch to League Outfit Bristol Rovers last month in order to gain experience in the senior game.
In his place, Lee Jonas starred alongside Terrence Miles at the heart of the defence and it was only due to a contentious penalty decision that their guard was breached.
That was when Meireles fired Porto ahead after six minutes following referee Helgi Mikael Jonasson's decision to controversially penalise Reds goalkeeper Harvey Davies for what seemed like a perfectly-timed challenge.
The forward dusted himself down to convert his effort from 12 yards and had seemed intent on ending Lewtas’ side's hopes of equalling the club’s best-ever advancement in the competition with a third appearance at the quarter-final stage.
However, Davies, who was sent the wrong way by Miereles’ spot-kick, responded with a string of impressive saves as Liverpool laboured to find their groove after having the wind knocked out of their sails after conceding so early.
But midway through the first half, Lewtas’ side raced through the gears as Doak, Koumas and Dominic Corness pushed to draw their side level with a flurry of speculative efforts. Meanwhile, left-back Calum Scanlon and Frauendorf interchanged superbly to frequently test the resoluteness of Porto’s right flank.
After the restart, though, Liverpool were finally rewarded for their efforts as Frauendorf kept his cool to round off a fine move by sweeping home a trademark Doak cross from the byline.
With their tails undoubtedly wagging, the young Reds continued to crank up the pressure for a second goal of the night, but, in the absence of top goal scorer Oakley Cannonier, they struggled to dispatch the openings Clark, Doak and Frauendorf conjured up for their team-mates.
While they had their Porto counterparts penned back for much of the second half, Davies was still forced into action late on as Cande’s deflected strike prompted the Liverpool goalkeeper into action.
Defender Lee Jonas thought he’d declared himself as the hero and booked his side a place in the last-eight of the competition when he climbed highest to connect with Corness’ cross right at the death - only for it to roll agonisingly across the goalmouth.
It meant for the second consecutive season the U19s needed spot-kicks to decide their last-16 fate, with the young Reds once again running out winners as Porto failed to capitalise on Doak’s missed penalty. Clark, Jonas, Corness, Jayden Danns and Stephenson all dispatched their spot-kicks with varying levels of ease.
After the full-time whistle scenes, Goncalo Ribeiro and Cande were shown red cards for the Portuguese side, while Koumas was belatedly given his marching orders for his role in the fracas.
Liverpool will travel to Lisbon to face Sporting CP in the quarter-finals.
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