Blackpool FC: Three talking points as Kylian Kouassi hat-trick helps Seasiders to victory over Liverpool U21s

The striker made an instant impact off the bench in the second half to help the Seasiders on their way to the three points.

Albie Morgan and Andy Lyons were also on the scoresheet for Neil Critchley’s side in the win at Bloomfield Road.

Here are some of the talking points from the game:

Wasted first half chances

Blackpool should’ve taken the lead during the opening stages of the match.

Jake Beesley couldn’t sort his feet out quick enough to punish an early Liverpool mistake, while a great save from Fabian Mrozek also denied the Seasiders forward.

Chances also came the way of Morgan and Karamoko Dembele, but neither were able to find the target with their attempts.

As for the visitors, they tested Richard O’Donnell with their first attempt, and scored with their second, with Paul Glatzel slotting into the bottom corner after a great ball through.

A couple of good stops from Fabian Mrozek also frustrated Critchley’s side during the opening 45 minutes.

After the break they were more clinical and overcame their enthusiastic opponents.

Superb strike and potential red

Ahead of half time, the Seasiders pulled level courtesy of a superb free kick from Albie Morgan.

The midfielder’s well hit effort struck the inside of the post before crossing the line.

While Liverpool would’ve been frustrated to concede so close to the break, they were arguably lucky to still have 11 men on the field.

A ball over the top saw Beesley brought down by Mrozek on the edge of the box, with the Seasiders forward about to go around the keeper who had come off his line to deal with the situation.

The visitors were adjudged to have a defender in support, seeing the man between the sticks avoid a red card.

It’s certainly up for debate whether the keeper was in fact the last man, and perhaps it might’ve been a different call if it was a league game.

Instant impact

What an impact it was from Kouassi.

Within a minute of coming on he had his first of the evening- and he continued to impress from there.

All three of his goals were different, and demonstrated his range of attributes to find the back of the net.

While he’ll face tougher opponents, a number of positives can be taken from his performance.

Scoring goals, no matter who it is against, is an extremely important thing for a striker.

It was give Kouassi a confidence boost heading into the next few weeks.

He’s already demonstrated he can compete in League One, following his display against Reading last month, and now it’s just time for him to do it consistently.

After missing pre-season and only joining Blackpool towards the back end of the summer window, the 20-year-old is probably ahead of schedule.

He’s certainly an exciting individual and hopefully he can build on the performances he’s produced so far.