Ibadan-born winger Bobby Adekanye, dubbed the Nigerian Messi in these parts, put in undoubtedly his best performance in a Liverpool shirt to date as their U19 team beat Maribor in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday afternoon.

The opponents were soundly beaten 4-1 at športni park Lendava with Adekanye grabbing a pair of goals and assists either side of the interval.

The Slovenians opened the scoring on 23 minutes through Matko, only for the Nigerian winger to net his maiden goal in the Youth League and equalize for the visitors on the half-hour mark.

In the 32nd minute, Adekanye was unfortunate to hit the woodwork but Herbie Kane was on hand to tap home the rebound.

Six minutes into the second half, Liam Millar made it 3-1 after he was assisted by the former Ajax, PSV and Barcelona wonderkid.

It was one-way traffic with Liverpool in the driving seat and Adekanye added more gloss to the scoreline with his second goal of the afternoon in the 58th minute when he slammed home a low finish, with Rafael Camacho providing the assist.

The 18-year-old Nigerian was replaced with seven minutes left on the clock.

Igho Kingsley