West Ham’s arduous Europa League campaign continued with a unconvincing win, while Liverpool’s cast of new summer signings were given an airing as Brendan Rodgers’ side earned a victory down under. Elsewhere, Norwich continued on the goal trail with a win over 120-minutes, while Sunderland slipped to another defeat and Villa struggled to a goalless draw in the wake of Fabian Delph’s shock departure. Morgan Schneiderlin grabs the winner on his debut for United, Saido Berahino returns from injury to guide the Baggies to victory and Samir Nasri scores City’s late winner in Melbourne.
Here’s our round-up of the latest bout of summer fixtures. A reminder that all these results, along with Scout Notes on formations and form players is being captured on our dedicated page right here.
West Ham 1 Birkirkara 0
James Tomkins netted in the 89th minute (his second goal in three European starts) to grant the Hammers a narrow first-leg lead in their second qualifying round tie against the Maltese outfit.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic deployed his troops in a 4-4-2 set-up and with Diafra Sakho missing out through suspension, Mauro Zarate and Modiba Maiga led the line up front. Mark Noble and Kevin Nolan patrolled the midfield, with Matt Jarvis and Morgan Amalfitano offering the width. Winston Reid and Tomkins partnered up in central defence, while Joey O’Brien and Aaron Cresswell filled the full-back berths. Notably, Martin Samuelsen – who scored against Peterborough United in his debut for the senior squad – was the standout player upon his introduction in the second half.
Asked to assess the Irons’ performance after the final whistle, Bilic praised his centre-backs for their diligence and assured passing but conceded that the forwards lacked that clinical edge in the final third:
“We are fit, not totally fit and lacking a bit of freshness and organisation. We have not had too much time to work on it, but we have watched a view video animations on the wall and the guys are doing well. Of course we are going to improve, but we were compact at the back and the two centre-halves concentrated and passed the ball and were really good. I’m pleased with the way we played. I’m not happy with the final third of the pitch and the result.”
Brisbane Roar 1 Liverpool 2
Adam Lallana and James Milner struck as the Merseysiders overhauled an early setback to claim their second successive pre-season victory. Brendan Rodgers opted for a 4-3-3 formation, with Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho, Joe Gomez playing in front of Simon Mignolet. Lucas Leiva, Jordan Henderson and James Milner patrolled the centre of the park, with Lallana and Danny Ings on either side of Divock Origi.
Rodgers rang a host of changes on the hour mark, with Ings shifted into the centre. Milner also bagged an assist – as did Henderson – as the 7.0 priced pair battle it out for our attentions.
Post-match, Rodgers heaped praise on his summer purchase from City and reckons he’ll get the best out of him in a central role for the Reds:
“We wanted more goals from midfield and that was the idea, because when he plays in a central area he can really penetrate the box. He got in a number of times, had a couple of shots that went close and then he got his goal. He’s a top-class operator and I think playing in this team and at Liverpool he’ll probably shine even more. Players will always have a favourite position. Probably the best season James ever had was at Aston Villa playing as a central midfield player. He’s going to be huge for us.”
Rodgers also singled out summer signing Joe Gomez, who featured at left-back after Alberto Moreno missed out with a knock again. The Reds boss refuted suggestions that the youngster could be farmed out on loan this season and suggested he’ll get pitch time over the upcoming campaign:
“He’s staying. I’ve seen enough in this period; you judge young players, I always bring them in and over pre-season have a good idea of whether we’re going to keep them or not. Seeing him, in particular close at hand and his personality – he’ll be staying, he’ll get games. Gomez has played there a lot of his career. We took him in from Charlton where he played as a centre-half as a two, played in a back three and he’s also played as a right-back, so he’s got all the tools to play across the back four. You saw him tonight play at left-back – he’s a big talent.”
Liverpool remain without both Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino for their pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East, meaning that the Brazilian pair will have just two-weeks training and a pre-season runout against HJK Helsinki on August 1 to prepare for the season opener against Stoke. Emre Can is also yet to join up with the touring party having been given extended leave following Germany’s U21 European Championship exertions.
Aston Villa 0 Sporting Braga 0
Villa’s pre-season preparations were largely overshadowed by the announcement of Fabian Delph’s departure on Friday. While Delph completed his move in Manchester, his former team-mates laboured to a 0-0 stalemate with Braga over Portugal.
Gabby Agbonlahor went closest for the Villains, striking a first-half effort against the Braga crossbar. He was deployed up front as Sherwood went with a 4-4-1-1, with Carles Gil in the “number ten” role behind the striker.
Villa switched to a 4-2-3-1 in the second period as they made ten changes once again. Libor Kozak was given another run-out up front with Aleks Tonev playing up in support and Joe Cole in the double pivot. Christian Benteke remained in the stands amidst speculation surrounding his future following a reported bid from Liverpool.
Norwich City 3 Cambridge United 1
The Canaries emerged victorious from a 120-minute contest against neighbours Cambridge United; a training match that was split into four quarters.
After falling behind early on, Gary Hooper brought Norwich level from the spot after left-back Louis Thompson was felled in the box. Ricky van Wolfswinkel, making his first appearance in Norwich colours since last year’s pre-season, marked the occasion with a goal via an assist from the lively Jacob Murphy. Van Wolfswinkel then turned provider, setting up young full-back Harry Toffolo for the Canaries’ third.
Alex Neil again maximised the opportunity to make changes to his lineup throughout the match. He was without Sebastien Bassong, Kyle Lafferty, Tony Andreu, Jamar Loza for this one, while Jonny Howson was again absent due to illness. Nathan Redmond is yet to appear in pre-season but is expected to join the Canaries tour of Germany and Austria which begins on Tuesday.
Sunderland 1 CF Pachuca 3
The Black Cats continued their North American tour with another defeat as they squandered an early lead to slip to a 3-1 reverse to Mexican outfit, CF Pachuca.
Jack Rodwell gave Sunderland an early lead with a smartly taken goal; Emanuele Giaccherini again figured – this time providing the assist.
Dick Advocat started with a back four that consisted of Adam Matthews, Wes Brown, John O’Shea and Billy Jones but swapped his keeper with Jordan Pickford replacing Vito Mannone. Rodwell made his second consecutive start in midfield, while Giaccherini also started – he’s been given the nod in each of Sunderland’s three friendlies to date. Steven Fletcher and Jermain Defoe were again the chosen strikers, although Connor Wickham was given a starting berth against the Mexicans as Seb Larsson dropped to the bench.
Advocat’s lineups will likely change radically from this point on. The Dutchman will welcome Adam Johnson, Sebastian Coates, Jeremain Lens, Younes Kaboul and Patrick van Aanholt to his squad for Wednesday’s clash against Toronto. Costel Pantilimon and Jordi Gomez remain absentees, however – the pair remain back on Wearside with knee injuries.
Club America 0 Manchester United 1
Morgan Schneiderlin christened his debut for the Red Devils with a winning goal, nodding home from Juan Mata’s back-post cross. Reds boss Louis van Gaal deployed his troops in a 4-2-3-1 set-up, with Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw across the back four. Michael Carrick and Schneiderlin partnered up in the double pivot, while Juan Mata and Ashley Young provided the width as Memphis Depay took up the central support role behind Wayne Rooney. The second half saw the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Chris Smalling and Ander Herrera enter the fray as the entire XI were reshuffled. David de Gea and Antonio Valencia are both nursing minor injuries so played no part at Centurylink Field.
Speaking on Schneiderlin’s United debut, Van Gaal revealed that they’ve been working to enhance the Frenchman’s goal threat in training:
“He scored with Southampton, I believe five goals, so it is not a coincidence but we have practised this with him so I was very pleased with the performance. It is also a fact that America don’t have many good headers so we knew in advance that our benefit was there. Like I have said in the Premier League, it is not our benefit as we are always small.”
Asked whether Blind’s cameo at centre-back could become a more regular occurrence, Van Gaal didn’t rule out the possibility:
“It could be. Marcos Rojo is not here. He shall also come on 25 July. I want to play always with a left-footed central defender and Blind can do the job. Maybe he shall play there but all the players can play there. Last year it was Jones and Smalling, and even McNair has played there. But my preference is a left-footed defender and with Rojo and Blind we have two.”
Charleston Battery 1 West Bromwich Albion 2
Saido Berahino – who’d sat out the Baggies’ previous pre-season clashes with a knee injury sustained prior to the Euro U21 -tournament– netted on his return to action. His second-half replacement, Brown Ideye, then sealed the victory with a glancing header from a Craig Gardner free-kick. Tony Pulis handed minutes to 19 players in all, fielding James McClean as a makeshift left-back from the start – indeed, McClean was one of only three players (along with Boaz Myhill and Gardner) to play the full 90 minutes as Pulis rang the changes in the second period. Stephane Sessegnon was an unused substitute, having only arrived in the USA four hours prior to kick-off due to visa problems.
Melbourne City 0 Manchester City 1
Manuel Pellegrini started with just a handful of regulars from the City first-team squad, with Vincent Kompany, Gael Clichy, Fernando, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri the most notable names on show. The latter staked a claim for more pitch time this term by firing home a late winner in a 1-0 victory for the visitors. New boy Raheem Sterling took no part in the proceedings, whilst Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis have yet to join up with the squad after being handed an extended break following their Copa America exertions with Argentina.
