WIGAN, Sporting Alert – Danny Ings and Ben Woodburn both scored for Liverpool in a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Sunday and the Reds stayed perfect in the 2016 pre-season campaign.
The paired netted for Jurgen Klopp side, after coming into the contest as second half substitutes.
Liverpool have now won all three of their pre-season games and have also kept their run of games without conceding a goal.
Ings, who started the match on the bench, came on at the turn of 45 minutes and gave the travellers the lead in the 71st minute with a neat-looking finish after skillfully taking down a delightful cross from Lazar Markovic inside the penalty box.
Woodburn then made it 2-0 in the 74th minute when he ran onto a superb through ball pass before slotting home past the goalkeeper for his second goal in successive games.
The game also saw the return of Philippe Coutinho, and the Brazilian playmaker was outstanding during his 45-minute first half runout, which included him hitting the woodwork twice.
Manager Jurgen Klopp was happy with the performance of some of his core players and new signings, but noted that the overall performance was “OK.”
“It was the first game for Phil [Coutinho],” Klopp said. “You could see Sadio [Mane] and Roberto [Firmino] were a little bit tired, so they had to fight from the first minute.
“It was OK, not more. The second half was more than OK because the young boys obviously didn’t think too much about tired legs and the intensity of training.
“They had good organisation, Tiago [Ilori] and Joel [Matip] plus Lucas [Leiva] together with young Trent Alexander-Arnold did really well, and the rest were involved in our offensive play.
“That was really flexible, it was quick and direct. We had good direction in the game and we scored two wonderful goals, and could have scored one or two more.
“It was absolutely deserved so I’m quite satisfied.
The boss enthuses about the second half! https://t.co/Emd3oyrAPX
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 17, 2016
