Yokohama F. Marinos 1 - 3 Liverpool
Yokohama: Uenaka 55’
Liverpool: Wirtz 62’, Nyoni 68’, Ngumoha 87’
Pre-Match
Liverpool’s second game of two on their pre-season tour of Asia brought a first chance to see Hugo Ekitike in action for the Reds. He was included in a very strong starting eleven for manager Arne Slot, including Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté between Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez at the back, Ryan Gravenberch anchoring Dominik Szoboszlai and Flroian Wirtz in midfield, and a front line that saw Ekitike flanked by Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo. With Alisson absent, Giorgi Mamardashvili started in goal.
First Half
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Liverpool dominated possession early against the J.League’s relegation-battling 18th-place side, though one can never be sure how matches will play out when a pre-season squad faces off against a group in the middle of their campaign.
The first good chance came inside ten minutes, with Gakpo making a foot of space for himself taking a half-step inside before passing the ball towards the bottom corner and beating the goalkeeper but not the post. Another Gakpo chance came 21 minutes in as he took the ball over the top, pin-balled it off the defender and back into his own path, and forced a save out of goalkeeper Park Il-gyu from close range.
Almost immediately after, Salah set up a Szoboszlai as he charged up the pitch from a deeper role, but a mis-touch by the Hungarian saw it wasted. Then it was time for Salah and Bradley to combine to almost get Ekitike a spectacular backheel first goal on the tic-tac-toe cut-back, but the effort was stopped.
It was a shooting gallery, and Liverpool opening the scoring felt like only a matter of time. Despite that, the goal just never came, and in the 39th minute Marinos had their first good opportunity on the break, creating a two-on-one that led to a headed half-chance that was easily collected by Mamardashvili.
Second Half
There were limited changes at the half, with only Darwin Nuñez on for Ekitike and Curtis Jones replacing Gravenberch, signalling that we may already have reached the point in pre-season where it’s a little less just about the fitness and you can start to read a little into formations and player selections.
It was Nuñez getting the first clear cut chance of the second half, too, as he held his run smartly to stay onside in the 52nd minute only to shin the resulting clear cut chance from the penalty spot well wide of the goal while under no pressure. Moments later, Marinos opened the scoring as Asahi Uenaka’s attempt to square the ball to an offside teammate managed to find its way into the bottom corner.
On the one hand, it seemed very against the run of play. On the other, it felt like the sort of thing that can feel inevitable following a miss as bad as the one Nuñez had just managed. Liverpool, though, had clearly been on top throughout the match, and it didn’t take long for Curtis Jones to intercept in midfield and start a break. The Reds had numbers but Jones appeared as though he may have left it too late to play Salah in on the right. A fortunate bounce, though, saw the ball fall into the path of Florian Wirtz and the German calmly slotted home to level.
Mass changes followed—and immediately led to Liverpool’s second as Jeremie Frimpong whipped it in and Trey Nyoni got a flying foot high enough to stab the cross into the goal. Frimpong continued to stand out as an attacking right back, while on the left Rio Ngumoha was similarly a notable presence for the Reds over the final quarter. It was fitting, then, that the 16-year-old Ngumoha put a bow on the match late, carrying the ball from the half-way line and cutting inside before slotting home.
Final Thoughts
The goal never came in the first had but Liverpool looked sharp and in control, particularly Gakpo and Szoboszlai. That Nuñez miss in the second half being followed by a somewhat fortunate goal for the opposition, though, could only be reacted to with a sigh and rolled eyes—still, it might have been what the Reds needed to wake up find just that little bit of extra sharpness needed to convert their own chances. When they did, the final scoreline felt about right for all that came before.
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