Liverpool continued their 100% winning record in the International Champions Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over AC Milan on Saturday night.
Goals in each half from Joe Allen and Suso were enough to give Brendan Rodgers side the victory, whilst Rickie Lambert failed to register his first goal for the club by missing a first half penalty.
Rodgers started with a front three of Lambert, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe, and it was the performances of the teenage wingers that was most impressive in the opening 45 minutes.
Liverpool dominated the early stages in term of possession, and made the breakthrough on 17 minutes.
Joe Allen robbed Michael Essien on the edge of box and drove through on goal, only to see his finish come back off the post. Raheem Sterling was following in, and saw his follow up shot saved by the legs of goalkeeper Chrisitan Abbiatti, however the rebound fell nicely for Allen who volleyed cooly into the bottom corner.
Sterling was involved once again on 31 minutes, after a superb run from Jordan Ibe picked out Lambert, who turned the ball onto the 19-year-old, only to see him tripped by a clumsy tackle by Adil Rami.
Up stepped Rickie Lambert in the hope of firing his first goal for the Reds. With his previous record of 34 successful spot kicks out of 34 at Southampton, Liverpool supporters were shocked when his tame penalty was palmed away by Abbiatti.
Both sides produced changes aplenty after the interval, with maverick striker Mario Balotelli introduced after the restart for Milan.
However, the former Manchester City forward had no impact on proceedings, with a long range free kick that deflected wide proving the Italian clubs best effort.
Brendan Rodgers made eight substitutions on the hour mark, and the Reds continued to dominate possession.
Captain Steven Gerrard had the crowd off their seats on 75 minutes, when presented with an opportunity to strike on goal from 30 yards – however this strike was not the Gerrard blockbuster we have seen so many times down the years, as the skipper fired wide.
With two minutes remaining, Spanish youngster Suso hit a strike from the edge of the box that Gerrard would have been proud of himself, side footing the ball first time from the edge of the box into the bottom corner having been laid off by Phillipe Coutinho.
That proved the 20-year-old’s second strike of pre season, and further highlighted his potential in that attacking midfield role.
Brendan Rodgers will no doubt have been left delighted at the manner in which his side controlled the game, as well as the fact he was able to keep everyone fresh ahead of Monday’s final meeting with Manchester United – which will surely prove a slightly more competitive occasion.
Player ratings: Mignolet 7, Kelly 6 (Johnson 6), Toure 7 (Skrtel 6), Coates 7 (Sakho 6), Robinson 6 (Enrique 6) Henderson 7 (Coady 6) Allen 8 (Can 6), Lucas 6 (Gerrard 6), Sterling 8 (Suso 7) Lambert 6 (Peterson 6) Ibe 7 (Coutinho 7)
