Calum Scanlon claimed two remarkable assists to ensure Liverpool under-18s ended their Premier League North campaign in emphatic fashion as they defeated Newcastle United 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Scanlon, a full-back signed from Championship outfit Birmingham City for £500,000 in 2021, helped the young Reds race into an early lead with less than 60 seconds on the clock at Kirkby when he concluded a powerful run down the left flank by crossing the ball for James McConnell to head home against his boyhood club.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's side doubled their advantage over the Magpies just five minutes later when Scanlon turned provider once more - this time with a lofted, perfectly-weighted pass from inside his own half for Lewis Koumas to finish calmly.
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For the 17-year-old, who is the son of former West Brom and Wales striker Jason Koumas, it was a fitting ending to a stellar individual campaign on Merseyside as he claimed his 16th goal of the season - form which has seen him rewarded with a promotion to the under-23s.
The young Reds persisted with complete control of the contest for the rest of the half but were unable to add to their earlier flurry as McConnell and Keyrol Figueroa were presented with half-chances after more impressive work from Scanlon and make-shift midfielder Josh Davidson.
The visitors, meanwhile, were left wondering how they hadn't halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time when goalkeeper Lewis Hewitson failed to claim a loose ball inside the penalty area, only for Lucas Pitt to recover superbly and clear the strike of Johnny Emerson off the line.
Elijah Gift, who replaced Figueroa at half-time, applied the gloss on an emphatic performanceeight minutes after the restart when he latched onto McConnell's through-ball before driving inside the penalty area and slotting past Aidan Harris for his fourth goal of the season.
Koumas would sting the palms of Harris twice more late on as he worked tirelessly to add a late salvo of goals to his tally for the campaign before Newcastle ended Hewitson's hopes of attaining a clean sheet when Dylan Charlton's cross was sliced into the back of the net after a shoddy clearance from Pitt.
Victory takes the young Reds' tally for the season to 31 points after the full 24 games, leaving them in sixth position in the Premier League North table. However, that could change should the teams below them win their games in hand.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Hewitson, Miles, Fummell-Gill (Samuels 46'), Pitt, Scanlon; Figueroa (Elijah Gift 46'), McConnell, Davidson, Kelly Pennington (61'), Danns, Koumas
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