Daniel Pacheco hit a superb double as Liverpool Reserves powered to a resounding 4-1 win over Port Vale in a one-sided friendly at the Academy this afternoon.
The little Spaniard was a constant menace throughout and added to earlier strikes from Ryan Flynn and Jay Spearing to ensure Gary Ablett's men followed up Friday's impressive 2-0 success against Chelsea's second-string with another eye-catching performance.
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The Reds controlled the contest from the word go and they could have taken the lead as early as the eighth minute but Pacheco arrowed his shot just past the far post after superb approach play from Spearing and David Ngog.
Spearing was again in the thick of the action just minutes later when he saw a low 25 yarder well held by the Vale stopper before Pacheco somehow smashed an effort over from six yards out after Stephen Darby had headed into his path following a mix-up at the heart the visitors' defence.
A Reds goal looked imminent and on 17 minutes it duly arrived when Flynn drilled a composed finish in at the near post after great play from Pacheco had sent the winger racing into the area.
The visitors were struggling to keep pace with Liverpool's one-touch approach play and on 34 minutes the hosts doubled their lead with a picture-book goal.
A sweeping move down the left saw Spearing pick the ball up in a central area 30 yards from goal. The midfielder was so often the Reserves' star man last term and he gave another cameo of what he is capable of with a sublime curler that beat the keeper all ends up and flew unerringly into the top right hand corner of the net.
With the game all but safe, Ablett had the luxury of making seven changes at the interval and Vale may have thought it would upset the Reds' flowing football.
If they did, then they were very wrong, as Pacheco fired home two quick-fire goals within five minutes of the restart to put Liverpool four goals to the good.
The Spaniard's first arrived on 48 minutes when some brilliant play down the right by substitute Steven Irwin ended with the 17-year-old exchanging a one-two with Andras Simon before slipping the ball into the far corner with a composed finish from six eight yards.
And it got better seconds later when he beat the offside trap to race on to substitute Francisco Duran's through ball to coolly place home a carbon-copy of his first.
At this point the score could have been anything, but to their great credit the away side rallied and on 89 minutes they pulled a goal back when Emiliano Insua put the ball into his own net after a dangerous cross from the right flank.
Liverpool Reserves: Gulacsi (Bouzanis), Darby (Irwin), Insua, Kelly (Huth), San Jose (Ayala), Plessis, Spearing (Duran), Bruna, Flynn (Weijl), Ngog (Simon), Pacheco.
Liverpoolfc.tv man of the match: Daniel Pacheco. The Spaniard gave another glimpse of his sumptuous talent with an outstanding attacking display.
Also
Gary Ablett has praised the character of Francisco Duran after he made a successful return from injury during the reserves 4-1 friendly win over Port Vale on Monday.
The highly rated midfielder was signed from Malaga in January 2007 but has suffered terrible misfortune with cruciate knee ligament damage ever since, spending almost 18 months on the sidelines.
The 20-year-old has worked hard during his rehabilitation and marked his return against Vale with a goal assist for Daniel Pacheco.
"It's fantastic to see Francis back in action and we're really pleased for him," Ablett told Liverpoolfc.tv. "Mentally I don't think I've met anyone as strong as him considering what the poor lad has gone through during the long time he's been out.
"He has worked ever so hard to get back. He did some work with us on the field during pre-season but we limited the amount of contact on him during training because we didn't want to take any chances.
"He's a really good player and it is a bonus to have him back with us."
Good result again for the reserves and Pacheco seems to get better and better and the lad is destined for the first team. Also that is some strong squad we have and Nemeth has to come back too and we have a few reserves on loan. Good to hear Duran is back and hope he can keep fit and show us what he is all about. The future is very bright
The little Spaniard was a constant menace throughout and added to earlier strikes from Ryan Flynn and Jay Spearing to ensure Gary Ablett's men followed up Friday's impressive 2-0 success against Chelsea's second-string with another eye-catching performance.
The Reds controlled the contest from the word go and they could have taken the lead as early as the eighth minute but Pacheco arrowed his shot just past the far post after superb approach play from Spearing and David Ngog.
Spearing was again in the thick of the action just minutes later when he saw a low 25 yarder well held by the Vale stopper before Pacheco somehow smashed an effort over from six yards out after Stephen Darby had headed into his path following a mix-up at the heart the visitors' defence.
A Reds goal looked imminent and on 17 minutes it duly arrived when Flynn drilled a composed finish in at the near post after great play from Pacheco had sent the winger racing into the area.
The visitors were struggling to keep pace with Liverpool's one-touch approach play and on 34 minutes the hosts doubled their lead with a picture-book goal.
A sweeping move down the left saw Spearing pick the ball up in a central area 30 yards from goal. The midfielder was so often the Reserves' star man last term and he gave another cameo of what he is capable of with a sublime curler that beat the keeper all ends up and flew unerringly into the top right hand corner of the net.
With the game all but safe, Ablett had the luxury of making seven changes at the interval and Vale may have thought it would upset the Reds' flowing football.
If they did, then they were very wrong, as Pacheco fired home two quick-fire goals within five minutes of the restart to put Liverpool four goals to the good.
The Spaniard's first arrived on 48 minutes when some brilliant play down the right by substitute Steven Irwin ended with the 17-year-old exchanging a one-two with Andras Simon before slipping the ball into the far corner with a composed finish from six eight yards.
And it got better seconds later when he beat the offside trap to race on to substitute Francisco Duran's through ball to coolly place home a carbon-copy of his first.
At this point the score could have been anything, but to their great credit the away side rallied and on 89 minutes they pulled a goal back when Emiliano Insua put the ball into his own net after a dangerous cross from the right flank.
Liverpool Reserves: Gulacsi (Bouzanis), Darby (Irwin), Insua, Kelly (Huth), San Jose (Ayala), Plessis, Spearing (Duran), Bruna, Flynn (Weijl), Ngog (Simon), Pacheco.
Liverpoolfc.tv man of the match: Daniel Pacheco. The Spaniard gave another glimpse of his sumptuous talent with an outstanding attacking display.
Also
Gary Ablett has praised the character of Francisco Duran after he made a successful return from injury during the reserves 4-1 friendly win over Port Vale on Monday.
The highly rated midfielder was signed from Malaga in January 2007 but has suffered terrible misfortune with cruciate knee ligament damage ever since, spending almost 18 months on the sidelines.
The 20-year-old has worked hard during his rehabilitation and marked his return against Vale with a goal assist for Daniel Pacheco.
"It's fantastic to see Francis back in action and we're really pleased for him," Ablett told Liverpoolfc.tv. "Mentally I don't think I've met anyone as strong as him considering what the poor lad has gone through during the long time he's been out.
"He has worked ever so hard to get back. He did some work with us on the field during pre-season but we limited the amount of contact on him during training because we didn't want to take any chances.
"He's a really good player and it is a bonus to have him back with us."
Good result again for the reserves and Pacheco seems to get better and better and the lad is destined for the first team. Also that is some strong squad we have and Nemeth has to come back too and we have a few reserves on loan. Good to hear Duran is back and hope he can keep fit and show us what he is all about. The future is very bright
Somebody had to do it I suppose. Anyone know where AF11 is?
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