HJK Helsinki 2-0 Liverpool, 1st August 2015, Pre Season Friendly

Philippe Coutinho returned to action with a goal to help Liverpool to a 2-0 victory over HJK Helsinki in Finland on Saturday in their latest pre-season encounter.

The 23-year-old made his first appearance of the summer for the Reds following an extended break and came closest to breaking the deadlock when his first-half drive was deflected onto the crossbar.

However, after substitute Divock Origi had opened the scoring with 18 minutes remaining thanks to a well-taken finish, Coutinho found the net with a deflected curler from the corner of the box to put the seal on a solid afternoon's work for Liverpool.

Brendan Rodgers named a strong line-up for the encounter, with Coutinho returning to action for the senior side for the first time since coming back from the Copa America.

Also on the bench for Liverpool was Brazilian teenager Allan Rodrigues de Souza. The Reds have secured the promising Internacional midfielder for the future and he is currently spending time with the side with the permission of his club.

On the pitch, his compatriot, Coutinho, was first to really threaten in the opening exchanges, driving over the crossbar from an acute angle after being teed up by Adam Lallana inside the box.

Next, Danny Ings glanced a header wide of the far post from Jordan Henderson's right-wing free-kick before a James Milner thump from distance tested Daniel Orlund.

The new No.7 then saw a low drive from the edge of the area blocked by the legs of a defender after Henderson cut a set-piece back into his path.

Still, chances were proving hard to come by, but with 41 minutes on the clock, Liverpool fashioned their best of the evening to date - Coutinho shimmied and danced his way into space on the edge of the area before seeing his seemingly goal-bound strike deflected onto the crossbar by Gideon Baah.

Within seconds of the re-start, Lallana had Orlund scrambling across his line with a 25-yard thump before Jordon Ibe's low delivery was hooked over the bar by Ings moments later.

At the other end, Ousman Jallow brought a save out of Simon Mignolet with a run-and-hit from the edge of the area.

Ings and Coutinho both had opportunities as Liverpool regained the front foot, while Rodgers elected to replace the former with Origi just after the hour.

The Belgium forward teed up Lallana shortly after coming on, but his powerful blast from 12 yards deflected narrowly over the bar off Juhani Ojala.

The breakthrough finally arrived on 72 minutes when Ibe powered down the right and crossed low for Milner. His neat flick found Origi, who drove home from close range with an effort on the turn.

And the lead was quickly doubled as Coutinho collected possession just inside the area from a short corner and curled a deflected effort over the goalkeeper and into the net to cap off the evening for Liverpool.