Despite attempting a dramatic late comeback against Liverpool, Wolves under-23s fell to a single goal defeat in a 4-3 thriller with the Reds on Sunday afternoon.
Benny Ashley-Seal scored twice and Boubacar Hanne netted in the closing stages as Wolves fought back from 4-1 down to make it to 4-3, but it wasn’t to be for the visitors who slip to ninth in the Premier League 2 Division 1 table.
Although Wolves made a bright start to proceedings at the Liverpool Academy, both sides were a threat early on, with goalkeeper Andreas Sondergaard being called into early action to deny Herbie Kane from close-range.
Wolves were beginning to find their feet in the game when Ashley-Seal, who had scored six times in his four previous outings, found space inside the area but failed to generate a shot on target. Moments later Liverpool went ahead when Curtis Jones slid a pass to Rhian Brewster who fired past Sondergaard.
Ashley-Seal was then denied by an excellent Ben Winterbottom save before Rafa Nya and Elliot Watt combined to deny Brewster a second with a goal-line clearance, but it wasn’t long before Ashley-Seal got Wolves on level terms with a well-taken penalty. But moments before the half-time whistle, Liverpool were back in front through Kane.
Wolves continued to push for an equaliser in the second-half with Taylor Perry and Ming-yang Yang going close, but Brewster headed home to extend the hosts’ advantage. Liverpool then got their fourth with just under 20 to go, when Jones’ delivery deflected off Dion Sanderson and trickled past the helpless Sondergaard.
The visitors continued to fight until the end and pulled one back just minutes later when Ashley-Seal scored his eighth goal in five games with a sweet low strike past Winterbottom.
Hanne – who netted twice himself on Tuesday night against Stratford Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup – tapped home to give his side hope going into added time, but the comeback came up short with Liverpool seeing out the game to seal the three points in a pulsating affair.
COMING UP
The under-23s return to Premier League 2 action on Saturday afternoon as they look to get back to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur at New Bucks Head.
NEXT FIVE
26/10 Tottenham Hotspur (H)
01/11 Derby County (A)
05/11 Blackpool (A) LCT
09/11 Birmingham City (H) PLC
20/11 Paris Saint-Germain (M) PLIC
TEAMS
Liverpool: Winterbottom, van den Berg, Larouci (Gallacher 75), Boyes, Williams, Kane, Dixon-Bonner (Clarkson 61), Chirivella, Brewster, Jones, Longstaff.
Unused subs: Atherton, Clayton, Coyle.
Wolves: Sondergaard, Burr, Csoka, Sanderson, Nya (Otasowie 68), Thomspon, Watt, Yang (Hanne 77), Perry, Campbell, Ashley-Seal (Samuels 88).
Unused subs: Cristovao, Tsun Dai.
