Summary
- Liverpool’s miracle comeback against Barcelona was famous aided by a quick corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
- Ball boy Oakley Cannonier’s quick action enabled the iconic corner that led to the goal.
- Cannonier, a promising striker in Liverpool’s academy, has shown great potential with impressive stats.
May 7, 2019, will always be one of the greatest days in Liverpool’s history. The Reds needed a miracle to overcome Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final second-leg tie at Anfield. They were second best throughout in the first leg, losing 3-0. But Liverpool famously produced a miraculous comeback to win 4-0 and reach the final.
Their fourth goal on the night – scored by Divock Origi – came after a quickly taken corner by Trent Alexander-Arnold. The defender spotted Barcelona’s players out of position and crossed perfectly for his teammate, who scored expertly from a few yards out.
But the goal wouldn’t have been possible without the actions of Liverpool’s ball boy, Oakley Cannonier. The ball went out of play and Cannonier almost immediately provided Alexander-Arnold with another, allowing the right-back and Origi to catch Barca’s players off guard. View the incredible moment in the video below:
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Where Oakley Cannonier is Now
The striker is part of Liverpool’s youth set-up
It turns out the youngster, who turned 21 years old on May 6, is showing promise in the club’s academy. Cannonier, a talented striker, scored his first goal for Liverpool’s Under-18s just months after his actions in the Champions League semi-final.
He continued to kick on and, in 2021, he signed his first professional contract at the club. The Englishman has justified Liverpool’s decision to give him that contract. Cannonier scored 30 goals in 37 games for the Reds’ youth teams in the 2021-22 season. View Cannonier’s 2021-22 highlights in the video below:
Cannonier started the 2022-23 season on fire. He netted seven times in just four games to open Liverpool’s UEFA Youth League campaign. His form saw him called up for England’s U19s, and he scored twice in his opening two matches. Unfortunately, numerous injury problems kept him out for large parts of the season, and he ended with 12 goals in all competitions for Liverpool’s youth side.
It’s been a similar tale for the youngster in the past few seasons. In 2023/24, he only managed to make five appearances in Premier League 2, while in 2024/25 he has played just twice in the competition and featured in two EFL Trophy matches.
His days at the club look numbered. Back in January, Cannonier joined Leeds on trial, with reports emerging stating that Liverpool were willing to let him go on a free transfer. He didn’t complete a move to his boyhood club but, considering he hasn’t featured for the Reds since, it seems almost inevitable he will depart in the summer.
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Oakley Cannonier: People Call Me a Liverpool Legend
Jurgen Klopp even thanked the youngster for his contributions vs Barcelona
Cannonier spoke to Liverpool’s official website in 2022, and he reflected on that iconic game against Barcelona. He said:
“Liverpool were obviously getting beat, so the assistant manager told our coach Carl that the ball needs to be in rapid for the intensity of the game and stuff because we were 3-0 down. Everything had to be quick and you had to get the ball back on the pitch. I went to school the next day and all the Liverpool fans in our school were just coming up to me and going, ‘You won us the game!’ I had to go in a different room because there were so many people coming up to me.”
Cannonier revealed Jurgen Klopp still thanks him for his contribution on that famous night, and also stated: “It still is a bit mad. People getting in touch on social media calling me a Liverpool legend.”
He continued: “I trained with the first team a few weeks ago and the boss came up to me, and he was like, ‘I just need to thank you’ for what I did.”
But Cannonier doesn’t want to be known as a ball boy. He’s determined to follow in Alexander-Arnold’s footsteps and have similar success for the club. The striker added: “If you look at what Trent’s done with Liverpool’s first team and won stuff with them, I’d love to do that. I don’t want to just be like a ball-boy legend, you know what I mean?”
|
Oakley Cannonier’s Liverpool Statistics |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
2020/21 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
|
2021/22 |
37 |
30 |
5 |
|
2022/23 |
12 |
10 |
0 |
|
2023/24 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|
2024/25 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
It seems the 21-year-old is a real talent, and if he were to somehow turn out for Liverpool’s first team in the future, he would be following in the footsteps of Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Jayden Danns and many more to have recently made the step-up into the senior squad.
3:38
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All statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt (Correct as of 06/05/2025)
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