28 February 2024 , 22:11
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The same kids, the same heroics, the same outcome, just a different cup.
As the teams prepared to come out for the second half of this tie, the stadium announcer played a classic from The Who. The Kids Are Alright. They are more than alright, they are helping Jurgen Klopp get through one of the most serious injury struggles of his time at Anfield.
And never mind the kids being alright, Liverpool are through to the last eight thanks to teenage kicks as a goal from Lewis Koumas and two from Jayden Danns saw off Southampton. Klopp’s farewell tour was always going to be storybook stuff but the shining emergence of this wave of talent has added a new narrative.
Danns and Koumas - an unused substitute at Wembley - would normally have been getting ready for an FA Youth Cup semi-final against Leeds on Thursday. Instead, they were making club history, becoming the first pair of 18-year-old Liverpool players to score in the same game.
Danns, whose father Neil had 20 years as a professional, could not quite believe what had happened. He said: “Today is the best day of my life. It is a dream come true. I've supported the club since birth. To come on and score in front of the Kop is amazing.
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“It doesn't feel true. It feels like I'm in a film. I don't know what my dad is going to be doing now because he was in tears when I made my debut.” And Klopp said simply: “What these two boys did was incredible. It’s special that something like that, as impossible as it seems, can happen.”
To be fair, Klopp also got a bit of help from his opposite number, Russell Martin, the manager of a club whose only moment of true glory in its 138-year history came in this grand, old competition. Martin made eight changes to the side that had done Championship duty at the weekend. This was the last 16 of the FA Cup, for goodness sake.
Lewis Koumas' deflected shot finds its way into the corner to give Liverpool the lead (Anna Gowthorpe/REX/Shutterstock)Such was the threat from Southampton reserves in the first hour, Martin will feel his selection was justified but imagine what a first-choice eleven might have done. Instead, lamentable finishing allowed Caoimhin Kelleher to continue his fine run of form.
And Liverpool taking the lead just before the break was entirely predictable if markedly fortunate, the Koumas shot taking a decisive deflection off Jan Bednarek. The Saints missed more chances but the message from Martin’s selection was that this was not important and it showed as Southampton’s commitment dropped and substitute Danns produced a chipped beauty for his first senior goal.
And there was still time for Klopp to bring on 16-year-old Trey Nyoni and for Danns to crash home his second. The kids really are alright.
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