Liverpool Loses in Rose Bowl Soccer

Liverpool lost to Premier League rival Chelsea FC Wednesday, 1-0, in a friendly pre-season International Champions Match which saw Chelsea’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas being sent off after a bad foul on Liverpool newcomer Ragnar Klavan.

Fabregas got his marching orders about 70 minutes into the game after sliding into Klavan with his studs up.

Four Liverpool players had already been shown yellow cards by that time. Chelsea’s Gary Cahill also got a yellow card.

Chelsea’s new head coach Antonio Conte apologized for Fabregas’s foul and said the match was more competitive that they had expected.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said Klavan had escaped unscathed from the challenge but said another recruit, Marko Grujic, was in hospital after receiving a knock to the head in the first half.

The match’s only goal was a header scored by Gary Cahill, connecting from a corner by Fabregas, 10 minutes into Cahill’s first outing since England’s defeat against Iceland at Euro 2016.

Liverpool obviously lacked a cutting edge up front with striker Daniel Sturridge deemed unfit.

The team’s best chance came in the first half when Chelsea’s Brazilian winger Willian Borges da Silva gave away a throw inside his own half and left-back Alberto Moreno was played in down the left. Moreno cut it back for Roberto Firmino, who got the ball stuck under his feet and couldn’t pull the trigger.

The Rose Bowl said about 53,000 watched the ICC match, part of an exhibition tournament involving 17 clubs playing on four different continents, all tuning up for their league seasons.

The Reds’ new recruit, Georginio Wijnaldum, was left out in the game.