Liverpool registered a rather uninspiring 2-0 victory against Adelaide United in front of a record South Australian football crowd of 53,008 at the Adelaide Oval on Monday night.
Second-half goals from James Milner and substitute Danny Ings ensured the Reds remained unbeaten in Australia, despite what was largely an insipid performance by the English outfit.
The anticipation and excitement in the build-up to Adelaide United’s friendly clash with the English Premier League giants reached fever pitch, when the spine-tingling anthem, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, reverberated around the Adelaide Oval before the game’s commencement.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers made three changes from his side’s 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar on Friday, with Dejan Lovren, Joe Allen and Jordan Ibe replacing Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva and Danny Ings respectively.
Meanwhile, despite being just an exhibition match, the United players looked to cause coach Josep Gombau selection headaches the Reds’ fixture against Darwin Olympic in the FFA Cup Round of 32 on August 5th.
Liverpool began to showcase its talent in the early stages of the game, dictating proceedings with a number of penetrating balls into the 18-yard-box and a combination of slick passing moves.
Divock Origi came the closest to opening the scoring, but blazed his effort over the cross-bar as he dazzled his way past his opponent.
United’s Isaias took the saying that ‘no match is a friendly’ far too literally as he recklessly kicked Adam Lallana to the ground, following some exceptional footwork from the English international.
Origi had another opportunity to grab the first goal for the visitors on 20 minutes, when a perfectly weighted through ball by Joe Allen unlocked the Adelaide defence, but the Belgian’s tame strike fell safely into the hands of gloveman Eugene Galekovic.
Jordan Ibe tried his luck from distance, but the Adelaide goalkeeper comfortably dealt with the 19-year-old’s low shot.
In the 38th minute, new summer signing James Milner also decided to test Galekovic from long-range and although he did not catch his strike cleanly, he still forced the Adelaide shot-stopper to make a parried save.
The hosts largely only appeared threatening on the counter-attack and rarely troubled the Reds when in possession of the ball. The five-time UEFA Champions League winners continued to increase the tempo of the encounter when it suited them, but lacked polish in the final third in a rather monotonous first-half of football.
After the interval, centre-back Lovren wasted a free header from Jordan Henderson’s corner, bouncing into the ground and over the bar.
Ibe was able to get the relatively subdued record crowd off their feet – resorted to doing the Mexican Wave – when he nearly dragged his effort inches past the upright and the outstretched finger tips of Galekovic.
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However, the spectators finally had something to cheer about when Milner grabbed his second goal in Australia on 67 minutes.
The ex-Manchester City midfielder clinically tapped home from Jordan Ibe’s pinpoint cross to put the English heavyweights 1-0 ahead and in the process sending the crowd into scenes of elation.
Tarek Elrich then looked to restore parity with Adelaide’s best chance of the game, only to be denied, as his sumptuous strike brushed off the post.
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Surprisingly, the inevitable catalogue of pre-season substitutions in the second 45 had no noticeable impact on the affair. Ings should have extended Liverpool’s advantage, yet his glancing header was skied metres over to the relief of Galekovic.
However, he would not have to wait long thereafter to etch his name on the scoresheet, nonchalantly rounding Adelaide’s goalkeeper to make it 2-0, after latching on to Nathaniel Clyne’s incisive pass in the 88th minute.
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