Final, 3-1 Manchester United: It’s over in Miami. Manchester United wins the International Champions Cup.
Louis van Gaal’s new-look Manchester United overturned Liverpool’s lead with lighting speed and never looked back. After an even first half, during which Liverpool nosed ahead, Manchester United found another gear (in terms of speed) and another level (in quality) that the Reds failed to match.
The names of Rooney, Mata and Lingard are on the score sheet, but Young also deserves a lot of credit for his industry and deliveries from the right.
Liverpool’s pressing game wasn’t as effective in the second half, which allowed Manchester United more time and freedom to find and exploit the spaces in the Reds’ defense. Liverpool also was missing some punch when going forward and didn’t look like it would score for most of the final 40 minutes.
Manchester United claims the trophy and the prize money. Liverpool will be disappointed, but the Reds are secure in the knowledge that the real race starts in less than two weeks.
That’s all for now, and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion that is on the way on NESN.com.
88th minute, 3-1 Manchester United: Lingard scored an exquisite goal.
Young crossed from the right to the top of Liverpool’s penalty area. Kagawa misplayed the ball, but it fell to Lingard, whose powerful shot went between Skrtel and Kelly and beat the diving Mignolet.
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86th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Rooney is cautioned for a professional foul.
84th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: After taking the lead, the Red Devils started seizing control of the game.
Manchester United is doing a good job of winning the ball in its own half and quickly sending it forward to Rooney and his attacking partners.
The quality of Liverpool’s possession is deteriorating, as the Reds are having trouble finding space in Manchester United’s half in which they can operate and create scoring chances.
78th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Herrera heads to the bench. Jesse Lingard comes into the Red Devils’ midfield.
77th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Coutinho exits, as Peterson enters the fray.
75th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Rooney and Skrtel exchange heated words after the Liverpool defender fouls him in the midfield.
74th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Liverpool makes a personnel change in defense, as Toure replaces Sakho.
69th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: The Red Devils are making two more substitutions.
Shinji Kagawa and Nani enter. Mata and Hernandez exit.
65th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Rooney appeared to score, but the referee disallowed the goal.
An errant shot hit the back corner of the top of the goal and bounced back into play. Rooney gratefully tapped it past Mignolet, Manchester United celebrated, but the referees met and corrected the call … eventually.
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62nd minute, 2-1 Manchester United: Liverpool is making a few changes.
Ibe replaces Lambert, Lucas come on for Gerrard and Can is on for Allen.
60th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: The two goals stunned Liverpool, and the Reds now are under pressure.
57th minute, 2-1 Manchester United: The Red Devils strike again. Mata is the goal scorer.
Mata shot from just inside the Liverpool penalty area. It deflected off of Sakho and wrong-footed Mignolet.
55th minute,1 -1: Rooney volleys it home, and the score is tied.
Hernandez floated a pass to the far post. Rooney ran underneath it and tapped it past Mignolet with his left foot.
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50th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Coutinho plays Sterling behind the defense with a well-weighted through-ball. Sterling takes a few touches and shoots, but his effort is deflected and goes out for a corner.
49th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Gerrard wins the ball in a promising position and passes left to Lambert, but the Liverpool striker hits a weak shot, which de Gea saves easily.
46th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: The second half is underway.
Manchester United substituted Tyler Blackett in for Evans and replaced Fletcher with Tom Cleverly during the interval.
Halftime, 1-0 Liverpool: That’s the end of the first half. Liverpool leads by one.
Fans can’t be faulted for thinking they’re watching a regular-season Premier League game. Neither Liverpool nor Manchester United eased off the pace in the first half.
Manchester United could have scored first, but Hernandez failed to redirect Young’s cross. It was a costly miss, as Sterling — who unsettled United’s defense with his speed and trickery — won a penalty kick, and Gerrard converted it.
While the Reds often have had difficulty breaking down Manchester United’s defense, they have been dangerous with either long shots or quick counter-attacks.
Aside from Hernandez’s early chance, Manchester United crafted any clear-cut opportunities of its own. Liverpool’s pressure is making it difficult for the Red Devils to involve Mata and Rooney in their build-up play.
41st minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Now Sterling tests de Gea with a right-footed shot from 30 yards out, but it doesn’t trouble the Manchester United goalkeeper.
41st minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Kelly shoots wide from long distance. Liverpool is doing well to move the the ball into Manchester United’s third of the field but is missing the finishing touch on the final pass or shot.
40th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: The first half has been played at a good tempo, and neither side is having problems keeping up with the pace.
33rd minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Sterling wants another penalty kick, but the referee denies his appeal this time.
33rd minute, 1-0 Liverpool: While the Reds hold onto the lead, the balance of play remains almost even.
The teams are causing a lot of turnovers in midfield by pressing with plenty of hunger.
24th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Coutinho fires a low shot from 20 yards out, but de Gea saves it out for a corner kick.
19th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Gerrard’s goal seemed to boost the Reds’ confidence, but Manchester United doesn’t seemed fazed by the deficit.
14th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Gerrard expertly beats de Gea with the spot-kick, and Liverpool leads early on.
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13th minute, 0-0: Jones fouls Sterling in the Manchester United box, and the Reds are awarded a penalty kick.
Jones disagrees with the referee’s call, but it appeared to be a valid penalty.
Johnson made a good pass to Sterling, which caused Jones to overreact and lunge into the tackle.
Ninth minute, 0-0: Manchester United makes an early substitution.
Luke Shaw replaces Valencia and assumes the left wing-back’s role. Young switches from left to right.
It’s a shame for Valencia, as the International Champions Cup final is being contested on his 29th birthday.
Ninth minute, 0-0: Hernandez gifts Henderson a scoring opportunity, but the Liverpool midfielder heads wide from point-blank range.
Fifth minute, 0-0: After an uneventful start, Manchester United almost draws first blood.
Young drove an accurate cross to the far post. Hernandez arrived first but couldn’t volley it on goal. The Mexican striker should have scored from point-blank range.
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First minute, 0-0: The 2014 International Champions Cup final is underway.
Pregame: The teams are fielding strong starting lineups, which suggests they are going for the International Champions Cup trophy and the $1 million prize that comes with it.
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Normally a right back, Johnson will play left back for Liverpool — a position he has played on occasion. Lambert starts up front again, as Daniel Sturridge flew back to England after picking up a slight hamstring injury.
7:30 p.m.: Here are the lineups:
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet (22), goalkeeper
Glen Johnson (2), left back
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Mamadou Sakho (17), center back
Martin Kelly (34), right back
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Joe Allen (24), midfielder
Philippe Coutinho (10), forward
Raheem Sterling (31), forward
Rickie Lambert (9), striker
Substitutes
Brad Jones (1), goalkeeper
Kolo Toure (4), defender
Jack Robinson (49), defender
Sebastian Coates (16), defender
Lucas Leiva (21), midfielder
Emre Can (23), midfielder
Adam Phillips (45), midfielder
Connor Coady (35), midfielder
Suso (30), midfielder
Jordon Ibe (33), forward
Kristof Peterson (54), forward
Manchester United
David de Gea (1), goalkeeper
Jonny Evans (6), center back
Phil Jones (4), center back
Chris Smalling (12), center back
Ashley Young (18), left wing-back
Antonio Valencia (25), right wing-back
Darren Fletcher (24), midfielder
Ander Herrera (21), midfielder
Juan Mata (8), midfielder
Wayne Rooney (10), forward
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (14), striker
Substitutes
Anders Lindegaard (13), goalkeeper
Ben Amos (40), goalkeeper
Luke Shaw (28), defender
Reece James (41), defender
Tyler Blackett (42), defender
Nani (17), midfielder
Tom Cleverley (23), midfielder
Shinji Kagawa (26), midfielder
Wilfried Zaha (29), midfielder
Jesse Lingard (35), midfielder
Michael Keane (38), midfielder
William Keane (48), midfielder
5 p.m. ET: If ever there was a time when a preseason exhibition game is no mere “friendly,” this is it.
Liverpool and Manchester United will play each other on Monday evening at Sun Life Stadium in Miami in the final of the 2014 International Champions Cup — a prestigious tournament being held in the United States. While the Reds and the Red Devils want to end their respective U.S. tours on a high note and emerge unscathed from the ICC finale, beating their rival will probably be their foremost concern come kickoff time.
Liverpool paved the road to the final with normal-time victories over Olympiacos and AC Milan and a win over Manchester City in a penalty-kick shootout in its three pool-play games.
Manchester United beat AS Roma and Olympiacos in normal time and topped Inter Milan in a penalty-kick shootout to book a date in Miami.
Since arriving in the United States, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal have repeated the same mantra, telling the world that these preseason games are meant to prepare their teams for the first round of Premier League games (on Aug. 16-17) and that the results of the ICC games are not very important. We’ll see if their respective tunes change when the teams take the field in Miami.
The game starts at 8 p.m. Join us here for all the action from Sun Life Stadium.
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Photo via LiverpoolFC.com
