Match Report: Malaysia XI 3-6 Liverpool

Liverpool's second pre-season game ended up being another goal-feast.  Watch all the goals here.

Chances were few and far between in a disappointing first half, although Joe Cole and Charlie Adam showed some promising touches.

It was Adam who put the Reds ahead from the penalty spot on 27 minutes, after Andy Carroll was tripped in the box.  Adam actually had to convert two penalties when the first effort had to be retaken as the referee adjudged that players had encroached.  The new signing dispatched both kicks with extreme confidence.

Raul Meireles had a header saved in Liverpool's only other real opportunity in a first half where they dominated possession.

The Malaysia XI drew level when Safio Rahim fired in a 20 yard free-kick 5 minutes from half-time.  Questions had to asked of the wall however.  The Malaysian's then missed a good chance soon after as Liverpool faded.

The Reds, as in the first game, made whole-sale changes for the second half, but the pace of the game didn't quicken.

A dull game was lit-up when David Ngog scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of pre-seaon within the space of 2 minutes.  His first was a tap-in on 68 minutes.  Insua swung a low cross in from the left which was missed by two defenders and Ngog stretched his right leg out to turn the ball in.

The striker smashed in his second after being slid in by Alberto Aquilani on 70 minutes and the score-line started to look at lot better for LFC fans.

Maxi made it 4-1 when he converted another cross from Insua after 76 minutes as Liverpool continued to dominate.

It was deja vu when the Malaysia XI scored 2 quick goals just as Guangdong did in the first game.  Poor defending let Mohd Safee make it 4-2.  A right-wing cross was palmed out by goalkeeper Martin Hansen straight into the path of Safee for an easy tap-in.

Safee then ran through from an offside position to score again and the Malaysian's were on-top.  The striker was clearly offside, but somehow the assistant referee didn't flag.

Maxi scored his 2nd of the game, heading in from close-range following Dirk Kuyt's right-wing cross on 90 minutes and Aquilani put Kuyt in make it 6-3 in injury-time.

This was a very entertaining game overall, with the much-maligned Aquilani and Insua showing they may have a future at the club after all, with solid performances.

Posted in: LFC Match Review