Final, 2-2 (Liverpool wins Penalty-kick shootout 3-1): It’s over at Yankee Stadium. Liverpool wins the penalty-kick shootout after the teams played an entertaining 2-2 draw.
The first half had the lions’ share of entertainment and quality, but the second half had the all-important goals. Henderson and Sturridge showed that they remain in good form with expert finishes inside the Manchester City area.
This was no vintage performance from Liverpool. Manchester City controlled large parts of the game and finished two of the many scoring chances it created. While Liverpool demonstrated its attacking character and quality by scoring two goals from losing positions, it will be concerned about the way it defended for much of the game.
Liverpool moves to the top of their International Champions Cup group by winning the penalty-kick shootout. The Reds now have five points after picking up two against Manchester City, which now has four points. If Liverpool defeats AC Milan on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., it will advance to the tournament final, which will take place on Monday in Miami.
Postgame analysis of Liverpool-Manchester City >>
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Penalty-Kick shootout: Manchester City will shoot first.
Kolarov hits his spot-kick way over the crossbar.
Sturridge mimics Kolarov, putting his penalty kick over the crossbar. It’s 0-0 after one round.
Toure hits his penalty kick straight down the middle, and Mignolet kicks it away.
Can confidently beats Hart, and Liverpool goes up 1-0 after two rounds.
Mignolet saves Navas’ penalty kick.
Henderson fires his shot past the diving Hart. Liverpool leads 2-0 after two rounds.
Iheanacho scores from the spot.
Lucas scores. Liverpool wins the shootout 3-1.
End of 90 minutes, 2-2: That’s the end of normal time. The International Champions Cup game is going to penalty kicks.
The winner will gain two points in the stands. The loser will earn one.
90th minute +2, 2-2: Sterling beats Hart again, but the referee disallows the goal because the Liverpool winger was offside.
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90th minute, 2-2: There will be a minimum of two minutes of added time.
If the game remains tied, there will be a penalty-kick shootout to determine the winner.
85th minute, 2-2: Sterling ties the game with five minutes left.
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Sturridge centered the ball to Lucas, who volleyed a pass forward to Sterling. The Liverpool winger showed great composure, hitting a powerful shot past Hart.
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84th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Can has a great opportunity to tie the game, but Richards lunges in and deflects his effort wide of the goal.
80th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: The game is losing some of its tempo and flow as it enters the final 10 minutes of normal time.
76th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Gerrard exits to a hearty ovation, as Lucas replaces him. Sakho comes on for Coates in the LFC defense.
73rd minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Coates is cautioned for a cynical foul on Richards.
70th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Sterling slots a pass to Coutinho, who fires wide. The Reds are searching for another game-tying goal.
69th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Micah Richards and Yaya Toure enter the fray for Manchester City. Jovetic and Clichy exit.
It’s Toure’s first preseason action. He’s facing his older brother, and former teammate, Kolo.
67th minute, 2-1 Manchester City: Jovetic scores his second of the game.
Another deflection. Another quick reaction. Another goal for the red-hot Montenegrin.
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65th minute, 1-1: Can replaces Allen, as Liverpool makes a personnel change in the midfield.
64th minute, 1-1: Manchester City nearly goes ahead once again, as Zuculini hits the crossbar from close range.
It was a terrible miss, as the Argentinian midfielder had the entire goal at his mercy.
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59th minute, 1-1: Henderson scores. It’s a tie game at Yankee Stadium.
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Sturridge dribbled forward and passed to Sturridge, who flicked it on to Henderson at the top of the Manchester City area. Henderson then hit a curling first-time shot past the diving Hart.
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57th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Sinclair walks in on Mignolet’s goal, but the LFC ‘keeper makes a kick save.
56th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Sturridge heads over the crossbar from the ensuing corner kick.
55th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Hart races off his line and denies Coutinho.
53rd minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Jovetic capitalizes on Gerrard’s error and puts Manchester City in front.
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Navas crossed into the goal-mouth, and it hit Gerrard, as the Liverpool captain was tracking back. Jovetic then arrived first and slotted his shot past Mignolet.
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50th minute, 0-0: Sturridge passed to Robinson, who surged forward on an overlapping run. The Liverpool fullback tried to poke a shot past Hart, but the goalkeeper turned it away.
48th minute, 0-0: Coutinho hits a tame shot from 25 yards out, which Hart collects with ease.
46th minute, 0-0: The second half is underway.
Liverpool makes a change in goal, as Mignolet replaces Jones. It’s the Belgian’s first action of the 2014 preseason. Sterling, Johnson and Robinson come on for Lambert, Kelly and Enrique, respectively.
Manchester City makes three substitutions. Hart comes on for Caballero. Kelechi Iheanacho, 17, comes on for Dzeko, and Scott Sinclair replaces Milner.
Halftime, 0-0: That’s the end of the first half. It’s goalless.
Liverpool started the game well but spent the majority of the first half under sustained pressure. Manchester City did a better job of using what little width Yankee Stadium offers, as Navas and Kolarov provided a steady supply of service to Dzeko.
Liverpool must win the ball higher up the field and break forward on the counter-attack. The Reds did this well early on, but the level of their performance eroded, as Manchester City’s grew.
40th minute, 0-0: Liverpool is struggling in the latter stages of the first half. Manchester City is dominating possession and putting the Reds under pressure.
Liverpool needs to gain possession, slow down the game and make Manchester City’s defense do some work (running).
39th minute, 0-0: Austin Powers and James Bond (otherwise known as Mike Myers and Daniel Craig) are in the house.
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34th minute, 0-0: Navas creates more danger with his speed and crossing from the right, but Dzeko shanks his shot after running onto his teammate’s pass.
30th minute, 0-0: Navas sends a hard cross into the Liverpool area. It hits Dzeko’s knee, and Toure clears it.
After taking some time to get used to the field conditions, Navas has been a constant menace on the right side of the Manchester City attack. Liverpool fullback Enrique has had plenty of work to do, as he tries to contain Manchester City’s Spanish winger.
26th minute, 0-0: Dzeko thinks he has scored the opener, but the referee disallows the goal because the Manchester City striker was offside.
25th minute, 0-0: Manchester City’s passing is improving as the first half progresses, which is causing Liverpool a few problems.
20th minute, 0-0: Milner misses the target with a shot from 25 yards out.
Henderson bumped into the Manchester City midfielder as he was setting himself to shoot, and the shot deflected off of Kelly and rolled wide.
20th minute, 0-0: Liverpool has enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. The Reds seem more comfortable in possession and defense — but only slightly.
19th minute, 0-0: Navas shoots on goal from a tight angle, and Jones saves the low drive comfortably.
15th minute, 0-0: Caballero makes an outstanding save on Lambert, who headed Henderson’s cross on goal from point-blank range.
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The chance came after Milner was dispossessed in the Manchester City half. Liverpool transitioned quickly and turned it into a goal-scoring opportunity that Lambert will be disappointed not to have finished.
12th minute, 0-0: Coutinho shoots wide from 20 yards out, as Liverpool threatens Caballero’s goal for the first time.
Eighth minute, 0-0: Jovetic heads a corner kick over the crossbar.
Sixth minute, 0-0: Dzeko and Jovetic link up at the top of the Liverpool penalty area, but Toure’s desperate tackle prevents Jovetic from shooting. Kelly then arrives and makes a bit of contact with Jovetic, who goes down in an effort to win a penalty kick.
It was all in vain, as the referee ignored Manchester City’s appeal for a spot-kick.
Fourth minute, 0-0: The teams are struggling to establish a rhythm to their respective games due to the narrow and bumpy field.
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First minute, 0-0: Liverpool-Manchester City is underway at Yankee Stadium.
Pregame: It looks like Liverpool could be testing its 4-4-2 diamond formation.
Gerrard will play at the base of the midfield in the holding role. Allen and Henderson will be slightly ahead of the Liverpool captain, and Coutinho will operate in an advanced role. Sterling and Lambert are likely to play as twin strikers.
Enrique and Toure start in defense for the second-straight International Champions Cup game, while Kelly and Coates return to the first 11.
Caballero starts in goal for Manchester City, who bought the Argentine this summer to provide genuine competition for incumbent starter Joe Hart.
Young center backs Boyata and Nastasic are looking to impress Pellegrini and lift themselves on the Chilean’s depth chart.
6:30 p.m.: Â Here are the lineups:
Liverpool
Brad Jones (1), goalkeeper
Jose Enrique (3), left back
Sebastian Coates (16), defender
Kolo Toure (4), center back
Martin Kelly (34), right back
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Joe Allen (24), midfielder
Philippe Coutinho (10), midfielder
Daniel Sturridge (15), striker
Rickie Lambert (9), striker
Substitutes
Simon Mignolet (22), goalkeeper
Danny Ward (52), goalkeeper
Jack Robinson (49), defender
Mamadou Sakho (17), defender
Glen Johnson (2), defender
Lucas Leiva (21), midfielder
Emre Can (23), midfielder
Suso (30), midfielder
Raheem Sterling (31), forward
Jordon Ibe (33), forward
Kristof Peterson (54), forward
Connor Coady (35), striker
Manchester City
Willy Caballero (13), goalkeeper
Aleksandar Kolarov (11), left back
Dedryck Boyata (38), center back
Matija Nastasic (33), center back
Gael Clichy (22), right back
Fernando (6), midfielder
Bruno Zuculini (36), midfielder
Jesus Navas (15), midfielder
James Milner (7), midfielder
Stevan Jovetic (35), forward
Edin Dzeko (10), striker
5 p.m. ET: Liverpool and Manchester City, the top two finishers in the Premier League in 2013-14, meet Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
The game is both teams’ second in the International Champions Cup — a prestigious preseason tournament that is being staged across the United States.
Both are looking to win at Yankee Stadium, as the result could set an early tone for this season’s Premier League title race. Manchester City narrowly edged Liverpool (by two points) to win the last season’s title, and Wednesday’s game could provide clues as to the current size of the gap between the teams.
Liverpool defeated Olympiacos 1-0 on Sunday using something close to its first-choice starting lineup. The Reds likely will rotate their squad against Manchester City, fielding a mix of starters, bench players and prospects.
Manchester City hammered AC Milan on Sunday by a score of 5-1. Manager Manuel Pelligrini hopes Manchester City will benefit from any momentum that victory created when his team faces Liverpool.
The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Stay right here for all the action from Yankee Stadium.
Photo via Twitter/@MLS
