FIVE STAR REDS BEAT SINGAPORE

Liverpool recorded their first victory of the pre-season campaign with an emphatic 5-0 win over Singapore on Sunday afternoon.

Andriy Voronin put the Reds into the lead on the stroke of half-time with a deflected shot from distance before Albert Riera increased the visitors' advantage courtesy of a close-range volley shortly after the restart.
 
Krisztian Nemeth helped himself to a late brace, with a Fernando Torres goal sandwiched in between as Liverpool went goal crazy in the Far East to claim the Lion Cup.
 
A pre-match rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone rang out inside the Singapore National Stadium before the game got underway, with the away side sporting their stylish new black away strip.
 
Rafa Benitez took the chance to partner young centre-back Mikel San Jose with Jamie Carragher and handed Daniel Agger a role at left-back.
 
After a tentative opening, Ryan Babel had the first opportunity of the game when he nodded David Ngog's cross goalwards, but Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny was able to make a comfortable save.
 
Noh Alam Shah saw a low strike blocked by Diego Cavalieri on a rare sortie forward from the home side, though Ngog was inches away from breaking the deadlock at the other end when he sent a looping header narrowly wide of the far post from Andriy Voronin's centre.
 
The young French striker was looking lively and he was unfortunate to see a shot on the turn deflected over the bar by Baihakki Khaizan on the half hour mark, after some excellent link-up play involving Yossi Benayoun.
 
For all their possession, the Reds were struggling to break down a stubborn Lions rearguard.
 
However, the visitors finally opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time when Voronin's low drive from 25 yards took a deflection off Daniel Bennett to beat Sunny and put Liverpool into a well deserved lead heading into the break.
 
Benitez made three changes during the interval, with Peter Gulacsi, Emiliano Insua and Riera replacing Cavalieri, Mikel San Jose and Babel.
 
The Reds started the second period quickly and Benayoun clipped an attempt just over the bar from inside the box prior to Riera doubling Liverpool's advantage.
 
Mascherano's deep cross from the right picked out the Spain winger, who chested the ball down and drilled an unstoppable volley beneath Sunny on 54 minutes.
 
The Reds opted to make wholesale changes on the hour mark, with Torres taking to the field, much to the delight of the local fans who cheered his every touch.
 
It wasn't long before Liverpool furthered their lead. Substitute Dirk Kuyt pounced on a wayward header before crossing for Nemeth, who dispatched a clinical shot into the bottom corner from 12 yards.
 
With just under 15 minutes remaining, Xabi Alonso was handed his first-run out of pre-season after recovering from the ankle injury that had kept him out of the clash with Thailand.
 
Moments later, the visitors made it four and it was the goal the whole stadium had been praying for as Torres got his name on the scoresheet.
 
Kuyt was again the provider, racing into the box from the right and squaring across goal to give the Reds' No.9 the simple task of tapping home from close-range.
 
The Dutch ace made it a hat-trick of assists on 83 minutes when he directed Agger's pass into the path of Nemeth, who headed beyond the Lions' replacement custodian Lionel Lewis to make it 5-0 and put the seal on a fine evening's work for Liverpool.

Teams

Singapore: Sunny, Khaizan, Jantan, Rahman, Bennett, Fahrudin, Ishak, Jiayi, Harun, Duric, Noh Alam Shah (c). Subs - Casmir, Emuejeraye, Esah, Halim, Lewis, Li, Muhamed, Nawaz, Sahdan Daud, Sha'ban, Sulaiman
 
Liverpool: Cavalieri, San Jose Dominguez, Agger, Carragher (c), Degen, Babel, Leiva, Mascherano, Benayoun, Ngog, Voronin. Subs - Alonso, Arbeloa, Dossena, Johnson, Kuyt, Nemeth, Pacheco, Plessis, Riera, Spearing, Torres
 
Referee: Abbdul Malik Bashir
 
Conditions: Unavailable
 
Attendance: Unavailable
 
Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Dirk Kuyt

Breakdown

11:11 GMT : Match Starts
1 min : The hosts get proceedings underway
2 mins : Liverpool all in black
2 mins : Looks like Danny Agger is playing at left-back, with San Jose partnering JC in the centre
3 mins : Poor kick from the goalkeeper and the ball comes to Ngog, but he's hustled out of it
5 mins : San Jose a little tentative there but Carra's there keeping an eye on things and the ball gets back to Diego
6 mins : Ngog looking to play in Benayoun but his pass is wayward
7 mins : Ngog crosses after good work from Lucas...Babel's in a decent position but it's difficult to get any power on the header...a comfortable save for Hassan Sunny
10 mins : It's even more humid here than Thailand
11 mins : Yossi and Ngog combine well down the right but the Frenchman can't find Voronin in the box
11 mins : Agger tries one from distance...not this time, Danny
12 mins : Wayward touch from Andriy in a promising position
14 mins : Voronin just received a fist where it hurts
14 mins : Looks like he's still feeling it as he blasts one wide
20 mins : Terrible barge on Masch...Babel picks the ball up even before the ref's blown
22 mins : Lucas swings in a corner for the men in black but it's headed clear
23 mins : Voronin's far post cross is met by Ngog but the angle's tight and it bounces wide
25 mins : Lucas plays in Ngog...he's through...the keeper saves with his legs...it was offside anyway
29 mins : Lucas finds Yossi in the box but that's great covering defending from Khaizan
31 mins : Babel's corner doesn't beat the first man
34 mins : Sublime play from Yossi in the box...clever that...it's come to Ngog...ah, his shot is deflected wide
35 mins : Singapore playing with 11 men behind the ball...it's difficult for Liverpool to find space
37 mins : First Booking: Noh Rahman:
40 mins : Masch dinks a ball over the Singapore backline to Agger down the right...the Dane cuts back onto his right foot...his cross is well long
42 mins : Yossi sets out on a mazy dribble...gives it to Ngog but he's fouled
43 mins : Agger's free-kick is right at the wall...was he trying to play a clever ball through to Voronin there?
45 mins : GOAL! Andriy Voronin: Deflected shot from 25 yards and the Reds have a deserved lead
12:13 GMT : Half Time Reached
12:17 GMT : Second Half Begins
46 mins : Substitution: Agu Casmir for Aleksandar Duric:
46 mins : Insua on for San Jose
46 mins : Gulacsi on for Cavalieri
46 mins : Substitution: Albert Riera for Ryan Babel:
50 mins : Ngog tries one from range but it's not close
51 mins : Substitution: Indra Sahdan Daud for Mohd Noh Alam Shah:
54 mins : GOAL! Albert Riera: Masch cross chested down by Riera before the Spaniard smashes past Sunny
56 mins : Substitution: Qiu Li for Shahril Ishak:
61 mins : Substitution: Krisztian Nemeth for David Ngog:
61 mins : Substitution: Fernando Torres for Yossi Benayoun:
61 mins : Substitution: Damien Plessis for Andriy Voronin:
61 mins : Kelly on for Carragher
61 mins : Substitution: Dirk Kuyt for Lucas Leiva:
61 mins : Substitution: Jay Spearing for Philipp Degen:
61 mins : Substitution: Daniel Pacheco for Javier Mascherano:
65 mins : Substitution: Ridhuan Muhamed for Shi Jiayi:
67 mins : Substitution: Shaiful Esah for Juma'at Jantan:
68 mins : Torres almost scored with his first touch before...but won a corner instead
69 mins : The Spaniard could be through here as well...but Khaizan's touch is just enough
70 mins : Esah whips one in but it hits the roof of the net
72 mins : Riera beats his man...gives it to Torres...his shot is blocked
73 mins : GOAL! Krisztian Nemeth: Great counter attack...Kuyt down the right feeds Nemeth, who sidefoots into the back of the net
74 mins : Substitution: Lionel Lewis for Hassan Sunny:
78 mins : Reina on for Gulacsi
78 mins : Substitution: Xabi Alonso for Daniel Agger:
78 mins : Substitution: Andrea Dossena for Albert Riera:
79 mins : Dossena works an opening but his shot is straight at the keeper
80 mins : GOAL! Fernando Torres: Kuyt cross is tapped home by El Nino
83 mins : GOAL! Krisztian Nemeth: Kuyt cross is headed home brilliantly by the young Hungarian
90 mins : Another Kuyt cross is headed narrowly wide by Torres