A superb first-half showing from Liverpool disintegrated in the final third of a breathless Anfield friendly as Monaco came from two goals down to beat Andoni Iraola’s side 3-2, with Paris Brunner’s 88th-minute header completing a stunning second-half comeback.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz had given Liverpool a 2-0 lead inside half an hour on their first appearance together at Anfield.
An Aleksandr Golovin penalty in first-half stoppage time gave Monaco hope, and when Mika Biereth levelled with a composed finish in the 56th minute.
When Brunner met Anis Soubeir’s delivery from a corner in the 88th minute and powered a header into the net, the game was Monaco’s.
Isak and Wirtz deliver
Liverpool could not have started more brightly. Isak broke the deadlock in the 16th minute when Ryan Gravenberch carved open the visiting defensive shape with a weighted through ball and the striker, dropping his shoulder onto his right foot, drilled a low finish into the bottom left corner.
Thirteen minutes later, Wirtz, operating in the number ten position behind Isak with Cody Gakpo and Lewis Koumas either side, collected possession on the edge of the area and drove a first-time finish through the Monaco defence to make it 2-0.
Biereth and Brunner complete the comeback
Monaco’s leveller arrived on the hour when Biereth, composed in the centre of the box after a slick move through Liverpool’s post-interval defensive shape, slid a right-footed finish down the middle of the goal before Mamardashvili could set himself.
The Georgian was perhaps harshly exposed on a day when Liverpool’s restructured back line still showed signs of needing time to bed in – Ifeanyi Ndukwe, deputising at centre-back alongside Virgil van Dijk with Giovanni Leoni still sidelined through injury, was not the only one caught short as Monaco found their rhythm.
Brunner provided the final twist in a manner that Monaco’s early-season pre-season form had already suggested they were capable of.
Soubeir’s delivery from the right corner of the box was angled perfectly into the six-yard area and the substitute, who arrived only minutes earlier, timed his run to meet it with a clean, powerful header that gave Mamardashvili no chance.
Liverpool went close to levelling in the closing minutes, Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range drive was pushed over and Gakpo’s late header was straight at Monaco’s goalkeeper.
Liverpool’s next pre-season fixture is away at Crystal Palace on August 12.
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