Liverpool under-18s marched into the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals as they put Fulham to the sword.
The young Reds earned a 3-0 win in the fifth round at the AXA Training Centre – with their prolific duo on target yet again. Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas both netted, along with a strike from Kieran Morrison.
Liverpool had to soak up pressure in the first half before making a superb start after the interval and bagging twice within a minute. Koumas steered home a fine header to extend his tally to 10 goals in 14 appearances this season. Six of the forward’s efforts have been for the under-21s.
Morrison emphatically doubled the home side’s lead moments later and then that man Danns was on target. The striker spotted the Fulham keeper off his line and crashed home a shot from 25 yards to seal the triumph and set up a last-eight tie away at either Sheffield United or Leeds United.
Danns has bagged 21 goals in competitive games this season, as well as a further six in mid-campaign friendlies. He was recently called up to train with Jurgen Klopp’s side before the 5-2 FA Cup victory over Norwich City along with Koumas.
Trey Nyoni, 16, was another who featured in the under-18s’ triumph. The midfielder has been on the first-team bench several times since he signed from Leicester City last summer.
Klopp praised the trio and called them ‘special’ after the Norwich victory. The Liverpool boss said: “You don’t know a few [emerging players] yet. So, maybe you know them but they were not with us yet on the pitch and stuff like this, but there is a lot to come still. Today Bobby Clark didn’t come on and I think he did particularly well in the last few games,” he said.
“Trey and Dannsy especially as well from the U18s, Koumas… there is a lot of really good players coming up still so yeah, the academy is in a good moment, I would say, producing-wise. It’s wonderful.”
Ahead of the under-18s win over Fulham, head coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson said on Danns: “Jayden is doing really well. He obviously still has a lot to do, like they all have at this age, but I think people are now starting to see that Jayden is able to showcase himself in a lot more moments during the games. His consistency and his performances and individual parts of his game are really good. Rightly so he has been given the opportunity with the U21s and he seems to have taken that opportunity so far.
“He’s doing really well, he’s improving all the time and his attitude and his character is phenomenal, it’s brilliant, and hopefully he can keep going and improving and the world is his oyster.
Liverpool last won the FA Youth Cup in 2019 – a team that featured the likes of Neco Williams, Rhys Williams, Leighton Clarkson and Bobby Duncan.
