Liverpool 3-1 Bayern Leverkusen, 12th August 2012, Pre Season Friendly

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CAT_IMG Posted on 12/8/2012, 21:25




Raheem Sterling took just three minutes to net his first senior Liverpool goal as the Reds completed their pre-season with a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.


The 17-year-old put the finishing touches to an incisive Liverpool move when he sprung clear of his marker and curled past Bernd Leno to open the scoring.

Lucas Leiva added a second before Andy Carroll fired home the Reds third and Sidney Sam clinched a late consolation goal for the visitors.

Sami Hyypia made his return to Anfield as Leverkusen manager and the crowd had barely finished chanting his name to welcome him back to his former home when Sterling broke clear and fired the Reds ahead.

Jonjo Shelvey had to stretch in the middle of the park to divert the ball out wide to where Jose Enrique was in space. Sterling made an instinctive dart forward and there was no catching him when the Spaniard threaded a diagonal ball along the floor and into his path.

The winger took one touch to cut inside from the left and leave Philipp Wollscheid for dead before unleashing a curling right-footed effort on goal that nestled in the far corner of Leno's net.

Three minutes on the clock and Anfield sensed that goals were imminent. But when Michal Kadlec whipped a curling pass into the Liverpool box and Stefan Kiessling ghosted in between the bodies inside a packed penalty area to nod straight into the arms of Pepe Reina, Bayer signalled their intent.

They played football; Andre Schurrle and Kiessling looked for each other and linked with the occasional back-heel or a neat one-two. Simon Rolfes arrowed a pass across the face of goal but no-one was bursting in to turn home his cross.

Kiessling then spurned two decent chances. The first he curled harmlessly wide after fluent approach play from the visitors and the second he sliced over the crossbar after springing the offside trap and finding himself in acres of space inside Reina's penalty area.

Anfield and Liverpool came to life when the Reds broke away from a Leverkusen corner and Stewart Downing threaded a pass into Suarez, who was bundled over on the edge of the box.

Downing shaped to hammer the resulting free-kick at goal but chose instead to slip a pass into Suarez who scuffed his shot; however, Kadlec diverted the loose ball into the path of Lucas and he tapped into an empty net for 2-0.

The Reds then began to increase the pressure.

Lucas went close again when he stormed through on goal, Sebastian Coates nodded a corner into the path of Sterling, who volleyed over the bar and Steven Gerrard began to exert himself in the middle of the park, asking for the ball and then spraying it about the pitch.

Rodgers made five changes at half-time. In came Spearing and Henderson to bolster the holding role while Charlie Adam took up an advanced role and Shelvey shifted out wide.

Two of the newcomers went close to combining and adding a third when, on 56 minutes, Sterling cut the ball back for Adam and the Scot nudged the ball into the path of Henderson but he was tackled as he shaped to apply the finish.

The Reds surged forward again and Shelvey clipped a perfectly-weighted pass towards the back post, where Carroll towered above his marker but headed wide of the mark.

The tall forward made no mistake moments later when he hammered home to make it 3-0 after the Reds patiently kept the ball before seizing their opportunity to pounce.

They sprung into action when Adam dummied a Spearing pass into Carroll and he let the ball roll across his body before unleashing a strike that struck Leno before it hit the back of the net.

Sam pulled a goal back for Leverkusen when he wriggled clear of Jamie Carragher and arrowed an unstoppable strike past Reina with 15 minutes remaining.

Hyypia took to the pitch on the final whistle to a standing ovation from the crowd.
 
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0 replies since 12/8/2012, 21:25   4 views
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