Klopp's kids keep quadruple hopes alive

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -

 

Teenager Jayden Danns called it "the best day of my life" after scoring twice off the bench as Liverpool beat Southampton to set up an FA Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United.

There was also a dream debut for Danns' fellow 18-year-old Lewis Koumas, who opened the scoring at Anfield when he collected Bobby Clark's pass and found the bottom corner with a shot that deflected off Saints captain Jack Stephens a minute before the break.

After replacing Koumas in the second half, Danns ran on to Harvey Elliott's pass to score with a lovely dinked finish in front of the Kop.

He struck again two minutes from time, thumping the ball home after Southampton goalkeeper Joe Lumley had parried Conor Bradley's shot into his path.

After their Wembley heroics at the weekend, for much of the first 45 minutes, this looked like a game too far for an injury-hit Liverpool as their younger players struggled to make an impact.

Southampton had also made eight changes from their home loss to Millwall at the weekend but remained committed to their usual approach, cutting through the hosts on a number of occasions with their attractive passing game.

Klopp will hope to have a few of his more experienced players back from injury before they travel to face United in a couple of weeks but, if not, his youngsters have risen to every challenge they have faced so far and would surely relish the opportunity to show their class once again.

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