Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City – Match Report

Liverpool suffered their first pre-season defeat against Borussia Dortmund in their maiden International Champions Cup encounter despite having a first-half lead and dominating the game throughout.

The Reds, meanwhile, would be desperate to achieve silverware this term following Champions League final heartbreak against Real Madrid and encountered English champions Manchester City at MetLife Stadium to get back to winning ways.

The friendly fight, however, turned out to be an extremely engaging encounter when Liverpool came back from behind to score twice and clinched a win.

Pep Guardiola was without a number of their stars due to an extended vacation following their participation in World Cup 2018 and started the game with a much younger squad compared to Liverpool.

The Reds, on the other hand, had to make a late alteration, as new boy Naby Keita missed the game with a sore neck. The Cityzens started the game brightly and kept on teasing and testing the opponents with their lively runs.

The poor pitch condition refrained Liverpool from playing their usual passing football and were often losing possession in the midfield.

City teenager Lukas Nmecha came close to scoring but saw his effort denied by Loris Karius and Fabinho did just enough to clear the rebound. Klopp‘s men were lucky again when Andrew Robertson took down Luke Bolton inside the box but the referee decided to wave play on.

The Reds looked a little more lively following the half-hour mark and it was the 17-year-old Curtis Jones who was the most influential figure in an underwhelming Liverpool side. He had some tidy footwork, intelligent passing and was also denied a spot-kick minutes before the half-time.

The teenager came close to break the deadlock but failed to guide his header on target from Nathaniel Clyne’s cross. The game ended scorelessly after first 45 minutes.

Liverpool started the second half with more intent and the introduction of Sadio Mane almost handed the Reds an opener just seconds after the restart. Cameron Humphreys cleared it off the line and Dominic Solanke saw his goal get ruled out for offside.

It was City who hit back on the counter just seconds later, when Bernardo Silva found Leroy Sane and the pacy German beat Virgil van Dijk to finish it.

The Reds, down by a goal, made a few changes including red-hot Egyptian Mohamed Salah, who replaced the impressive Curtis Jones and made an instant impact by heading home from Rafael Camacho’s cross.

He was slightly offside but the goal stood and earned the Reds an equaliser. Salah ran riot since coming on as his header deflected off Humphreys from close range and saw another strike hit the woodwork.

He and Mane kept on posing threats for the remainder of the game but could not find a winner until the final seconds when Dominic Solanke was fouled inside the box and Sadio Mane made no mistake from the spot to clinch a last-gasp winner.

Here’s how the Liverpool fans reacted to the win.

This is the reason why im watching this game up until 3am only for Salah to come on and deliver a masterclass.

— Sam (@VintageSalah) July 26, 2018

 

Showed a lot more intent that second half especially when Mo came on. Players getting much needed match fitness is what it’s all about though. Once the league starts we’ll be good to go. Up the Reds!

— Luke Foley 🇦🇺 (@LukeAFoley) July 26, 2018

 

Time to get rid of lallana, solanke, ings and origi. Jones should start ahead of all 4

— MonsterAmongMen (@uddin8989) July 26, 2018

 

ICCSTANBUL

— Ben (@BossLikeBobby) July 26, 2018

We’re winning the league, league cup, Fa cup, champions league, Wimbeldon, Tour de France, Six Nations, World cup

— Shaun Matthews (@Shaun6549) July 26, 2018