Liverpool 2-4 AC Milan: Premier League champions handed humbling defeat in tour opener

Yahoo

5 days ago

Liverpool were dealt a lesson in the art of the counter-attack as they were beaten 4-2 by AC Milan in Hong Kong.
The Reds, playing the first game of their pre-season tour of Asia, arrived at the Kai Tak Sports Park in good spirits after morale-bolstering wins over Preston and Stoke City in their first friendlies of the new campaign.
However, the ramp up in opposition quality was evident, as the Premier League champions were schooled by Massimiliano Allegri and his crafty Italian side.
Rafael Leao, the maverick Portuguese forward, opened the scoring in clinical fashion as he hared off down the left, driving into the box to take full advantage of the space left by makeshift right-back Luca Stephenson.
He faced up Tyler Morton, filling in at the heart of the defence, before rifling into the far corner beyond Alisson to give Milan the lead inside 10 minutes.
Dominik Szoboszlai showed his quality with a delightful equaliser on 26 minutes, curling a delicious effort up and over Mike Maignan to level the scores and get the Reds in level at half time.
However, despite Arne Slot changing the whole side at the interval, it was Milan's continuity that kept the momentum with the Serie A outfit.
They went ahead with the second period just seven minutes old, as they broke clear once more, exploiting the chasm of space left at the back by the Premier League side.
Leao span clear to latch onto Noah Okafor's pass, and he picked out the supporting Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who stroked home to put Milan back in the driving seat.
Their advantage extended when Okafor swept in a superb third, making stunning contact on Alexis Saelemakers' square to double the lead.
Liverpool struggled to turn their dominance in possession into golden opportunities, and the closest they came in the second 45 was when Cody Gakpo skewed an effort into the side-netting after a stunning pick-out from Tyler Morton.
Gakpo did get his goal as he planted a header into the far corner to halve the deficit in injury time, but the scoring was not done, as deputy goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili's loose pass to stand-in central defender Kostas Tsimikas sold the Greek short. Okafor pounced, and raced clear to tap into the unguarded net.
Back to the drawing board for Slot, who may decide not to be quite so experimental next time around, when his side play Yokohama Marinos on Wednesday, before a visit from Athletic Bilbao to Anfield.