Liverpool Football Club beat AC Milan 2-0 Saturday evening at Bank of America Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 69,364 in Charlotte, NC. It was the final group stage match for both clubs in the 2014 Guinness International Champions Cup as Liverpool wins the group with two wins and a loss and AC Milan finishes with three losses.
“It was an excellent win,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said of the night. “It continues a lot of great work that has been taking place over the preseason. I’m delighted with the performance of tonight.”
Liverpool’s goals came from Joe Allen (17’) and Suso (90’). Suso’s goal was assisted by Phillipe Coutinho. However, the star of the night was Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who made five impressive saves and collected the clean sheet.
“Defensively we played really strong, pressed the ball really well,” Rodgers added. “We were very hungry at times.”
Despite both clubs resting their World Cup superstars in the first half, the match turned into an exciting preview for both club’s journey their upcoming seasons.
“I don’t look back at the result and we won’t look back at the result. The second half for thirty minutes was pretty good, it was a good level,” new AC Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi said in Italian.
Joe Allen scored in the 17th minute to give Liverpool the 1-0 advantage. AC Milan defender Michael Essien got caught up with the ball in a bad spot, slipped and Allen was off to the races. His one on one with AC Milan keeper Christian Abbiati hit the left post on the breakaway, bouncing to the feet of Raheem Sterling. Sterling’s shot was saved by Abbiati, but the rebound again found Allen, as he was able to collect it and knock in the easy goal just 17 minutes in.
Sterling would get a penalty call in the 27th minute after Adil Rami fouled the forward. Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers sent new signing Ricky Lambert to the spot, but the 37-year-old Abbiati guessed correctly and saved the shot diving to his left.
Liverpool would control the half and continually created chances. In the half, the English club had five shots goal to Milan’s one. The half ended on a heated note, as Ignazio Abate fouled Jordan Henderson. Joe Allen ran in and gave Abate a good shove as the whistle blew for the half.
The second half immediately saw the introduction of Milan forward Mario Ballotelli.
With that quality and creativity addition into the eleven, AC Milan was able to push forward and possess the ball more than they had been able to in the first 45 minutes.
“We were a little ingenious, we will have to play from the back,” Inzaghi reiterated. “I don’t want the ball to be thrown away, but I am happy that we will look forward as everybody has given their best tonight.”
Liverpool made an entire line change (eight at once) at the hour break and looked to have a close representation of their starting XI for the 2014-15 season. With those additions, the match opened up and there was more fluidity to the game. However, noticeably absent was Daniel Sturridge, who flew back to England with a slight hamstring concern.
There was a certain injury concern for the Milan club, as a Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard crossed a nice ball into the box, Milan backup keeper Gabiel collided violently with Mattia De Sciglio, who had to be taken off the field with an apparent rib injury.
With the Reds already up a goal, they sealed the match on the counter, with Spanish midfielder Suso slotting the second goal. As Liverpool pressed on the counter, Coutinho led the charge down the right side from a great pass, his run sucked the Milan defense in, and then passed to Suso, who was standing at the top of the box unmarked, rocketed a left-footed shot across the goal into the left hand side of the net.
The sixty-nine thousand plus fans was an outstanding showing, especially with the amount of Liverpool fans in attendance.
“I was surprised by the amount of supporters,” Rodgers added. “I was so surprised that so many got here. When we were driving to the stadium, it looked like it was a FA Cup Final or Champions League Final. It just goes to show the sheer size of the club worldwide.”
Liverpool will head to Miami for the tournament’s Final on Monday (Aug 4) before they begin the 2014-15 English Premier League season Aug 17 at Anfield against Southampton. AC Milan begin their year Aug 31 as they host S.S. Lazio at the San Siro.
“We look forward to making the Final, as well as winning it,” Rogers noted about Monday’s match. In that match Liverpool will face Manchester United, a club that won 3-1 in front of 109,318 in Ann Arbor, Michigan Saturday afternoon.
“When you play for a club like Liverpool,” Rodgers said of the next match, “there are not too many friendlies with the competition and the talent that you face. The game Monday will be just as competitive as tonight. The most important fixture is in two weeks when the season starts.”
