CHICAGO – Liverpool scored three second half goals as they wrapped up their pre-season tour of America on Saturday with a dominating 4-1 victory over Manchester United at Michigan Stadium.
Xherdan Shaqiri put a stamp on his Liverpool debut with a spectacular bicycle-kick goal to round out the scoring in the International Champions Cup match in front of a crowd of 101,000.
Shaqiri, of Switzerland, was one of five recent high profile signings which saw Liverpool shell out more than 200 million pounds ($260 million US) in an attempt to close the gap on Premier League champions Manchester City.
It was a nice way for the Reds to finish up their US exhibition swing as they now travel back to Merseyside before continuing their preparations for the season with a training camp in France beginning next week.
Sadio Mane converted a penalty to open the scoring for Liverpool in the 28th minute.
Manchester United's 22-year-old midfielder Andreas Pereira tied the game 1-1 in the 31st minute off a free kick.
The boss on Shaqiri's 🔥 overhead kick...
"It was good, obviously. That’s not normal after four days at the club. He adapted that well to the style of play." 👏 pic.twitter.com/kcgXR4vkdF
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 29, 2018
But Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad seized command in the second half, starting with Daniel Sturridge's 66th-minute strike.
Shaqiri, 26, did the heavy lifting on the play, outmuscling a United defender and then slipping a pass back to Sturridge who made it 2-1.
Sheyi Ojo then scored off a spot-kick in the 74th minute. That set the stage for Shaqiri to bring the packed stadium to its feet eight minutes later with his overhead kick from inside the box off a nice feed from Ben Woodburn.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola finished Manchester City's US tour with a deserved 3-2 victory over former club Bayern Munich, but his evening was soured with an injury to new signing Riyad Mahrez.
Two goals from substitute Bernardo Silva helped Manchester City come from 2-0 down to end a run of two defeats in this International Champions Cup campaign with youngster Lukas Nmecha scoring in between.
Mahrez, however, went down twice with what looked like an ankle problem. He was eventually forced off after just 27 minutes and looked in discomfort.
Highlights from a fantastic night in Miami! What a win! #mancity pic.twitter.com/h2mpyVQNzX
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 29, 2018
With the traditional English season opener – the Community Shield – taking place next Sunday at Wembley against Chelsea, coach Guardiola will assess the Algerian's fitness as the start of the Premier League campaign looms into view.
Meanwhile Guardiola's squad flew back to Manchester at the end of the Saturday match.