Liverpool’s winning start to their pre-season campaign came to an end on Saturday as they were beaten 4-2 by a clinical AC Milan side in an entertaining friendly held in Hong Kong.
The match began with touching tributes to the late Diogo Jota. Milan’s Rafael Leão, who opened the scoring against the run of play on a swift counter-attack, fittingly honoured his Portuguese compatriot with his goal celebration.
Despite Liverpool’s territorial dominance, they were repeatedly threatened on the break. The Reds found an equaliser through a superb, unorthodox finish from Dominik Szoboszlai, who was set up by 17-year-old talent Rio Ngumoha, leaving the score level at halftime.
After making nine changes at the break, Liverpool’s new-look side was quickly exposed by Milan’s lightning-fast counters. Goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and a brilliant strike from substitute Noah Okafor put the Italian side firmly in control at 3-1.
Liverpool gave themselves a glimmer of hope late on when Cody Gakpo scored a glancing header in stoppage time to make it 3-2.
However, that hope was extinguished just moments later. An embarrassing mix-up between defender Kostas Tsimikas and new goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili allowed Okafor to tap into an empty net for his second goal of the game, sealing a 4-2 victory for Milan.
While the result itself is of little consequence in pre-season, the manner of the defeat will be a concern for manager Arne Slot. Liverpool’s clear vulnerability to the counter-attack is an issue that will need to be addressed before the competitive season begins.