74 mins: Liverpool are now just knocking the ball around slowly as it’s not worth doing much else.
The model jumps highest in the box to head home a corner off the bar and reduce the deficit in the process.
And another! Grujic picks up a loose ball on the edge of the area, composes himself and drills it into the corner.
Lincoln get their reward for a better second half, as Edun and Scully combine before the latter caresses the ball into the bottom corner.
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59 mins: Grant whips in a free-kick for Lincoln which Eyoma jabs a foot at but that only succeeds in sending it well wide.
56 mins: Elliott claims he was pulled back in the box by Bradley and demands a penalty but the referee takes pity on Lincoln.
A fine performance from Villa, which should give the team plenty of confidence, especially Traore who scored a fine goal on debut.
50 mins: Lincoln have a couple of chances to score but Liverpool hold firm. The ball is then quickly down the pitch to Origi, who cuts in from the left and hits a vicious strike which Palmer palms away.
Lincoln are still trying to play out from the back, which is either brave or stupid. It’s a fine line.
48 mins: What positives can Lincoln take out of this? They won’t even get a nice shirt when they swap it later.
Within 20 seconds of the whistle going, Liverpool have enough. The press wins the ball high up and Minamino taps into an empty net after Elliott has a shot saved.
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Peter Oh says with reference to the Gettysburg Address: “Students of U.S. history may find it interesting that Liverpool have put four scores past a Lincoln.”
Here we go again!
Fabinho replaces Van Dijk at the break. Not a tough 45 for the Dutchman.
Paul emails to say: “Everyone talks about England’s young players like Foden, Sancho, Bellingham, Monk etc., but maybe Curtis Jones will prove to be the best of the lot. Certainly, he has the talent and self-confidence to play with the best.”
Garry Monk’s time will come!
45 mins: Scully tries to chip Adrian from 40 yards. The goalkeeper is about eight yards off his line and the ball goes 15 yards over, so, all in all, a dreadful attempt.
City youngster Bernabé has left the pitch in tears on a stretcher after suffering a knee injury. A bad night for the lad.
This isn’t really a Europa League blog but J.R. wants to laugh at Jose. “Let’s all take a moment to point and laugh at Mourinho whose team is currently drawing with Shkendija,” says J.R. “Of course as Mourinho himself recently said he’s only 1% responsible for how his players play so I guess he has nothing to do with their results then.
“Seriously, how does he get away with his nonsense?
Anyway, I’m taking my chance. As Nelson Muntz says, “Ha Ha!”.”
“Looks to me Shaqiri clearly had a look at Thiago over the weekend and thought ‘sod it, I can do this deep lying midfielder lark. That’s where I’ll get in the team’,” ponders Neil Hattersley. “Other than that, any word on why Brewster isn’t even on the bench? Swedish tv promoted this game with a big picture of him so I can’t be the only one surprised.”
One suspects he is heading out on loan soon enough.
Peter Oh asks: “Sorry to ask an obvious question but did Delap throw the ball into the goal?”
No Peter, that’s against the rules.
Re 20.12, Espen Bommen says: “Being old enough to watch Rory Delaps kid play for Man City doesn’t really bother me. What does bother me though is there’s a good chance that in 10 years I’ll watch somebody like Kasper Schmeichel’s kid play and I’ll tell my kid that I used to watch his grandad you know.”
Another fine finish from Jones, who gets away from about three defenders with a fine flick and the curls the ball into the corner – via a deflection – once more, this time from 18 yards out.
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34 mins: Elliott is the latest to have a shot at goal, as he collects the ball, spins 20 yards out and hits a low effort towards the corner but Palmer gets down well.
Over in Bristol … Traore sends El Ghazi through, but the Villa cannot add to his tally as his shot grazes the crossbar.
Rhys Williams pings a pass out to Origi, who heads it down to Jones, allowing him to open his body up and curl the ball into the top corner. Ooooof!
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30 mins: Jones fires off a wicked shot which clips of Bridcutt. It was hit with plenty of force, so it must have hurt the Lincoln skipper.
28 mins: A very good chance for Lincoln as a cross is lifted into the box by Melbourne but it’s a little too high for Eyoma, who heads up and over from six yards.
Niall Mullen asks: “I don’t suppose Delap junior will play for Ireland like his dad? I don’t think England really need any more exciting young talent.”
I grant Ireland permission to take him.
Meanwhile, Luke Crane asks: “Rory Delap now has a son old enough to play at Man City? How old am I?” Very/
24 mins: Ultimately, Lincoln City are not as good as Liverpool, so have barely had a kick of note. This will be a long night for the Imps.
The lead does not last long, as Surridge pops up with an equaliser by finishing off a lovely move.
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What a way to mark your debut! Rory’s lad has just planted the ball in the top corner after a beauty of a pass from Foden.
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Lincoln have set their own downfall. They try to play the ball out the back and fail, as Liverpool intercept 20 yards from goal. The ball falls to Minamino on the edge of the box and he curls it into the corner.
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