Friendlies Round-Up – Saturday

Olivier Giroud grabs his seventh goal of the summer as Arsenal battle to a draw at home to Napoli. Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson are the unlikely heroes as Liverpool beat Olympiakos in Steven Gerrard’s Anfield testimonial, Kim Bo-Kyung scores for the third game in succession for Cardiff, Nikica Jelavic climbs off the bench to notch again for Everton, while Dwight Gayle is amongst the goals as Palace cruise past Waterford.

Liverpool 2 Olympiakos 0
It’s five wins and five clean sheets in five now for the Reds as Brendan Rodgers’ side registered another victory in Steven Gerrard’s testimonial yesterday afternoon. Kolo Toure once again got the nod ahead of Martin Skrtel as Daniel Agger’s central defensive partner, while Gerrard was fielded as the most advanced central midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation which saw Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling handed the flank roles on either side of Iago Aspas. The Spaniard maintained his impressive pre-season form by supplying the assist for Joe Allen’s opener before Jordan Henderson fired home the second after being teed up by Sterling.

Luis Suarez climbed off the bench just after the hour mark and, despite his ongoing transfer wrangles, was afforded a warm reception by the home support – speaking to the press after the match, Rodgers admitted he hopes the fans reaction will convince the Uruguayan to turn his back on a potential move to Arsenal:

“It was probably not the reception that you guys thought! They love their own, and Luis is still very much part of the group and the team. He was probably humbled by the reception. There might have been that wee bit of trepidation about the reaction he might have got, but people who’ve been at this club a lot longer than me and know the Liverpool way, they know the fans always respect their people and respect their own. Today was another message from them that they love him here. We all love him, as a manager, players and supporters. We’re trying to keep our best players.”

Cardiff 1 Chievo 0
The Bluebirds registered their first win in three attempts with a narrow triumph over their Serie A opponents yesterday. Malky Mackay started with new boy John Brayford at right-back and partnered Mark Hudson with Ben Turner at centre-half before the former made way for record signing Steven Caulker on the hour mark. Yet again, Kim Bo-Kyung was a class apart and continued his strong pre-season form with the only goal of the game – he has now played a part in all four of Cardiff’s strikes (three goals and an assist) over the last three friendlies. Unsurprisingly, the South Korean’s scoring exploits were the main subject of his manager’s post-match praise:

“It’s something we wanted to add in terms of the all-round make-up of his game. Today he (Kim) showed some sublime touches, but again got on the score-sheet which is important for him in his slightly different role. He’s only young, you’ve got to remember that – and coming in from a completely different culture and language, his English has improved massively over the year. As the season went on you saw how he got to grips with the Championship, understood the type of football that it was and I think we saw the improvement as the year went on. I knew about the raw talent the boy had, it was about giving him time to settle.”

Mackay also took time to roll out an injury update after a couple of the Bluebirds’ main men were omitted from the squad for yesterday’s showdown:

“Jordon (Mutch) had a problem with his groin in the warm up with fifteen minutes to go, it’s not too serious. Joe Mason rolled his ankle during the week against Port Talbot and Craig Bellamy was ill overnight so again, short term things. (Andreas)Cornelius was tackled a couple of days ago in training and he’s got a sore ankle, we’re working on it at the moment. We will scan Jordon today and see where he is.”

Arsenal 2 Napoli 2
With a pair of weekend Emirates Cup matches on the agenda, Arsene Wenger made five changes from the side that started against Urawa Reds last Friday. Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs returned in the full-back roles alongside Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in defence, while Jack Wilshere partnered Aaron Ramsey in the double-pivot, with Tomas Rosicky tucking in behind Olivier Giroud. Two goals down at the break (with Lukas Podolski missing a first-half spot-kick) the hosts rallied after the likes of Theo Walcott, Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were introduced and Giroud sparked a late comeback with an overhead bicycle kick – his seventh pre-season strike – before Koscielny notched the equaliser after Pepe Reina parried a Mertesacker header into his path.

Celta Vigo 0 Southampton 0 (4-1 on pens)
The Saints penultimate game of the summer ended in a spot-kick defeat after the match finished goalless in normal time. With Nathaniel Clyne still injured Mauricio Pochettino rolled out for many what could be his starting outfield 10 for the Gameweek 1 trip to West Brom, with Callum Chambers fielded at right-back, Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin in the double-pivot and an attacking midfield trio of Jay Rodriguez, Gaston Ramirez and Adam Lallana behind lone forward Rickie Lambert. Pochettino did, however, start with Kelvin Davis in goal before he was replaced by Artur Boruc in one of nine half-time changes, with Chambers the only player to last the full 90 minutes after Luke Shaw was replaced by Danny Fox late on.

Prior to the game, reports in the local press had suggested both Ramirez and Maya Yoshida may be struggling for fitness ahead of the season opener, though. Yesterday was their first game time of the summer after an extended break due to Confederations Cup duties and with the duo going head to head on the international stage in Japan just three days before the Hawthorns trip, Pochettino will be keenly monitoring their levels, given they were both afforded just 45 minutes apiece yesterday.

Monaco 5 Tottenham 2
The visitors were made to pay the price for fielding an under-strength backline in France yesterday evening. In a week that saw Steven Caulker sold to Cardiff, Andre Villas-Boas’ decision to test Jake Livermore and Ezekiel Fryers in the heart of his defence backfired as Radamel Falcao and co ran riot. The Spurs boss rolled out a 4-2-3-1 formation and intriguingly handed new boy Nacer Chadli the role in “the hole”, with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Aaron Lennon taking the flank positions behind Jermain Defoe – the latter was replaced by Harry Kane after just eight minutes, having limped off with a “tight hamstring” according to Villas-Boas. The Spurs boss handed many fringe players a chance to impress from the bench and made seven alterations in total, with both Kane and fellow-sub Andros Townsend staking a claim with a goal apiece.

Waterford United 0 Crystal Palace 4
Ian Holloway’s side grabbed their third win in four pre-season matches yesterday evening. Kagisho Dikgacoi played his first match since picking up an injury in the Championship Play-Off final back in May, Danny Gabbidon returned to central defence, while summer signings Stephen Dobbie, Jerome Thomas and Dwight Gayle also featured. Dobbie produced a goal and assist for the Eagles, teeing up Gayle to notch the visitors’ second after opening the scoring himself, and in spite of a raft of second-half changes, Holloway’s side were able to extend their lad thanks to further strikes from Ibra Sekajja and Osman Sow.

Everton 1 Real Madrid 2
Having rolled out a 3-4-3 against Juventus in midweek, Roberto Martinez lined his side up in a 4-5-1 formation for the clash against Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the earlier hours of this morning. Johnny Heitinga returned to the starting XI but was moved into central midfield alongside Marouane Fellaini and Leon Osman, while Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith took the flank roles as Arouna Kone led the line in only his second start since arriving from Wigan. Nikica Jelavic – one of six second-half changes by the Toffees boss – once again impressed off the bench, notching his side’s only goal courtesy of a Naismith assist but despite a period of pressure where they had a goal disallowed and hit the post, the Merseysiders were unable to find the net again.

Speaking to the club’s official website after the match, Naismith praised the display of former Glasgow Rangers team mate Jelavic and backed the Croatian to come good after he also bagged a brace in last weekend’s win over Blackburn:

“Throughout pre-season he has looked sharp and he has got a bit of confidence back. I think last season he lost a bit of that through not playing every week. In training he has looked very sharp as well and maybe the signings that came in have put a bit of pressure on him and he wants to be starting for Everton.”