Liverpool extended their lead at the top of their UEFA Youth League group with a 2-0 win at Genk on Wednesday afternoon.
After a draw at Napoli and a home win over RB Salzburg in their first two games, the Reds travelled to Belgium level on points with their hosts in the standings.
However, they claimed an outright advantage courtesy of a hard-fought victory in front of a bumper crowd gathered in the shadow of the first team’s Luminus Arena.
Although Genk were largely content to look for counterattacks, they showed themselves to be more than a match for their visitors during a tight start to proceedings.
But it was a poor decision from home goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt that undid much of that good work, offering Liverpool the chance to get their noses in front.
With 22 minutes gone, the Belgian clattered into Layton Stewart in trying to beat the striker to a ball, leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the spot.
Vandevoordt almost made immediate amends in getting down to the subsequent Stewart penalty, but saw the ball squirm over his hand and into the net.
That goal set the tone for the Reds, whose continued probing was almost rewarded when Curtis Jones finished off a sweeping move only to see the offside flag.
And they so nearly had another on the stroke of half-time when Sepp van den Berg’s powerful header from a corner was well saved.
The visitors’ failure to take those chances gave Genk hope, and they would have been level shortly after the restart had Luca Oyen not slightly miscued his finish at the end of a fine passage of play.
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But it was soon the hosts’ turn for relief as Elijah Dixon-Bonner tapped in from close range only to find that Stewart had strayed offside in setting him.
Inevitably, Genk’s luck eventually ran out, Jones latching onto a dinked ball over the top with 15 minutes remaining and smashing a finish past Vandevoordt.
That precipitated a more straightforward end to a game that had been anything but for the visiting team.
