Raheem Sterling (31) and Jordan Henderson (14) of Liverpool chase down Olympiacos attacker Dimitros Diamantakos (17) during Sunday’s ICC match at Soldier Field. Photos/Damien Dennis
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] quick strike early in the match by Raheem Sterling gave Liverpool it’s first win on it’s US tour against the Greek champions, Olympiacos, for a 1-0 victory. Despite essentially being a preseason match, both clubs provided a lot of excitement and strong competitive nature at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Sterling’s goal in the fifth minute came as a shock to the 36,170 fans packed into the NFL stadium. Daniel Sturridge took a pass in front of the goal and followed with a shot that reflected off an Olympiacos defender. Sterling retrieved the rebound and stuck it past Greek goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri.
“You look at a young [Lazar] Markovic and Raheem, the pace of Daniel, we have great variety in our attack, full of pace and trickery,” Liverpool coach Brendan Rogers said following the game. “We have got people, like Markovic, who can beat defenders. I hope it will be another stand-out season for quality and entertainment.”
The three forwards were a powerful force on the pitch Sunday, driving the ball to the goal with plenty of chances to deepen their lead over Olympiacos. Additionally, star players saw plenty of time on the field to the delight of fans. Steven Gerrard stayed in through the first 62 minutes before being subbed out, while goalkeeper Brad Jones stayed in for regulation for Liverpool.
The Greeks also performed well in Sunday’s match.
Olympiacos goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri (42) kicks the ball.
“I think we conceded an unexpected goal which awoke us and then we started playing better and better,” Megyeri said. “We had our chances and maybe a draw would have been the fairest of results. However, this is football; we had our share of goal-scoring chances, they exploited their half chance and won the match.”
Possession was seemingly split between the clubs with both sides garnering plenty of scoring chances. Liverpool had two shots on goal out of 10 total while Olympiacos had one on goal out of their 13 total shots.
“This is a great opportunity for us,” Olympiacos coach Michel said during the post-game press conference. “We face the best teams, we are called to deliver at top level and we are really happy about that.”
Michel added that his XI are not final yet, as the club wants to see where each player stands heading into their regular season.
“Every one of them gets his own opportunity and what we want is to complete out preseason training,” he continued. ” As I have said before, this is a splendid opportunity for us. We play against clubs of a large budget, holders of European titles, but we learn quickly and we perform well.”
With Olympiacos’ loss, they stand with three points in Group B of the ICC tournament, tied with Manchester City and now Liverpool. The Reds will face Manchester City Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York City while Olympiacos will have to wait until Saturday for their shot at Manchester City.
