Liverpool conclude Germany pre-season trip with draw against Greuther Furth
Liverpool wrapped up their pre-season training camp in Germany with a 4-4 draw against Greuther Furth on Monday afternoon.
Luis Diaz gave the Reds the lead with a well-taken goal midway through the first half, though that was cancelled out by Julian Green’s equaliser in the 47th minute.
Darwin Nunez then scored twice to put Jürgen Klopp’s side 3-1 ahead but goals from Lukas Petkov and Armindo Sieb (two) had the German outfit in front heading into the final stages of the contest.
They were denied victory when Mohamed Salah converted from close range in the final minute of the 90.
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Liverpool started on the front foot and created three clear scoring opportunities inside the opening quarter of an hour. Ben Doak fired wide and had an effort saved, while a Diaz run from deep ended with a bending effort pushed behind for a corner.
They deservedly went ahead in minute 22, however, when Diaz curled beyond goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, skipping past Robert Wagner and holding off a challenge from Simon Asta in the build-up.
Chances to double the lead followed quickly after the opener. Diogo Jota fired wide when through on goal before Diaz overran the ball when attempting to round Urbig inside the area. Cody Gakpo also had a fierce strike tipped over.
The woodwork denied the Reds on the next occasion, with Jota’s finish from a tight angle clipping the near post when a mishit clearance broke to him.
Klopp once again opted to field an entirely different XI for the second period, which contained plenty of action at both ends.
Greuther Furth drew level two minutes after the restart, as Green pounced on a pass out from Adrian intended for James McConnell. But that parity only lasted a few moments.
Nunez rounded Urbig and calmly finished to make it 2-1 after being found brilliantly in the penalty box by a reverse pass from Salah.
After Salah curled over and Adrian saved well from Tim Lemperle, Liverpool added a cushion to their lead when Salah and Nunez combined again. Meeting another delivery from his attacking partner, Nunez ran forward, cut inside to beat his defender and slotted into the bottom corner.
The frantic pace of the game continued as the Reds’ advantage was wiped out with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Petkov beat Joel Matip to a loose ball in the box and converted, and it was then level again when Sieb redirected a cutback into the top corner.
Greuther Furth then took their first lead of the day through Sieb, who drilled an effort past Marcelo Pitaluga from the edge of the box following a successful counter-attack.
It drew a late response from Liverpool, though, when this time Nunez was the provider as his cross from the left found a free Salah at the back post to nudge in and make it 4-4.
Nunez was denied a hat-trick and clinching victory for his team in the last moment, having a powerful header kept out by the feet of Urbig.