Liverpool’s pre-season preparations suffered a minor blip after they could only muster a 1-1 draw against a Malaysia XI side at the Bukit Jalil Stadium.
Malaysia XI started with a strong first eleven, featuring the likes of Vincent Bikana, Patrick Wleh and Charles Chad Souza, and that paid dividends as they secured an early goal on the 12th minute mark. Patrick Wleh used his tremendous upper body strength to out-muscle the Liverpool defence before firing a powerful shot past Adam Bogdan, handing Malaysia XI a 1-0 lead.
But Liverpool, led by Henderson and James Milner in the middle of the park, kept the pressure going, as they hunted after an equalizer. Dejan Lovren could have leveled the score on the 17th minute mark, but his header was unfortunately wide off target.
Three minutes later, a good set of passes from the Reds led to a glorious opportunity for Henderson, after he was fed brilliantly by Adam Lallana, but the Liverpool skipper failed to connect with the ball comfortably.
But on the 28th minute, Liverpool ultimately got their equalizer on the 28th minute as Jordan Ibe found the back of the net with a terrific strike. In fact, they almost seized the lead before half-time, with Divock Origi missing two crucial chances – both saved by Khairul Azhan.
After the break, Liverpool kept pressing on the offence, though the defensive partnership of Vincent Bikana and Thiago Junior was being a constant thorn towards all their efforts.
Adam Lallana and James Milner were both handed glorious opportunities but a combination of bad luck and poor finishing resulted in them not being able to convert those chances.
As the game progressed, Rodgers withdrew his more experienced players to hand the youngsters a chance to impress, with the likes of Jordan Rossiter and Sheji Oyo coming on. That being said, Malaysia XI upped their tempo in the final 15 minutes and almost snatched the lead through Christie Jayaseelan but his shot was parried away to safety by Adam Bogdan.
The score line ultimately remained as Liverpool ended their Tour of Asia with a rather gloomy performance at the Bukit Jalil Stadium.
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