Goals from Cameron Brannagan and Samed Yesil helped Martin Beale's side to a second successive win in Ireland

Martin Beale's Liverpool Under-21s followed up Friday's 6-0 defeat of Waterford United with a second win as they narrowly defeated UCD at the Belfield Bowl. Goals from Cameron Brannagan and Samed Yesil were the difference despit Samir Belhout heading in UCD’s goal in the final moments.



The full capacity crowd will hopefully – at least for club officials - be a precursor for the midweek visit of Slovan Bratislava as UCD look to continue their impressive Uefa Europa League qualifying campaign.

The first half began in a leisurely fashion, with the home side allowing Liverpool extensive periods of time in possession. Liverpool often looked to build pressure through ex-Barcelona winger Sergi Canos, though it was centrally where they finally broke the deadlock, with attacking-midfielder Brannagan striking a bouncing ball low past keeper Conor Mackey.

UCD would not relent, and were unlucky to equalise through Connor Cannon in the 40th minute; the striker continually had too much pace for the ex-Real Madrid defender Rafa Paez. The second half saw the similar theme of Liverpool’s monopoly on possession, and the dominance paid off as Yesil slotted the second goal of the game in the 58th minute with a low and hard shot to the right of Mackey.

Conor Cannon remained a threat throughout for the home side, testing the Liverpool backline with a notably tenacity in his play. Belhout forced Andrew Firth to make an impressive save in the 83rd minute. Belhout’s persistence paid off when he headed in from close range, resulting in a raucous reaction from the crowd.

Attentions for Collie O’Neill and his UCD side will quickly switch to Thursday, where they will hope to overturn the 1-0 deficit against Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League, while Liverpool's U21 side will return to England to finish their pre-season schedule.