Bradford City vs Liverpool. Friendly Match.
University of Bradford StadiumAttendance24,343.
Rhian Brewster scored his third goal of pre-season
Monday 15 July 2019 10:08, UK
Liverpool continued their fast start to pre-season as James Milner's first-half double helped them secure a 3-1 victory at Bradford.
Milner, making his second appearance of pre-season, opened the scoring with a deflected effort before adding his second two minutes later from the penalty spot after Ryan Kent was brought down by Sean Scannell.
Rhian Brewster added a third just before the break - his third goal of pre-season following his double against Tranmere on Thursday.
A host of changes for the second half halted the flow of the game but Bradford did manage to grab a late consolation through Eoin Doyle's late penalty after Adam Lewis brought down Clayton Donaldson.
Milner provided the experience as Jurgen Klopp named a youthful looking line-up and he also provided the goals, opening the scoring after James Vaughan deflected the former England midfielder's strike past Richard O'Donnell.
Milner then added his second in quick succession, making no mistake from 12 yards after Scannell felled Kent in the penalty area.
Kent was involved again for Liverpool's third, cutting the ball back for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The midfielder's shot deflected into the path of Brewster, who bundled the ball home from a tight angle to continue his strong start to pre-season.
Both sides named new teams for the second half and the numerous changes affected the pace of the game.
Chances were few and far between but Sam Hornby had to be alert to keep out Liam Millar's strong effort.
Bradford did eventually get something to celebrate when Lewis lunged in and caught Donaldson in the penalty area and Doyle stepped up to beat Simon Mignolet.
It's now two from two for Liverpool in pre-season as Jurgen Klopp's side prepare to fly out to the United States.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "For the first 30 minutes I would say we were very confident, we did the right things in the right moments. Then we lost rhythm and didn't get it back, to be honest.
"It looked a bit more rusty, but that's how it is in pre-season very often, taking the wrong decisions and all that stuff. But it was still a wonderful third for Rhian's goal, really nice. The goals were really, really good.
"Second half, we never really could get the rhythm so it was a bit boring to be honest. If you are not creative on a specific day, you have to use the simple solutions and then you need to be still direct, try to come behind the last line.
"But it's normal, we have to feel things like this, you have to do things like this and then the manager has to criticise you and then you make the next step and everything is good again."
Liverpool's remaining pre-season fixtures...
