Yankee Stadium saw a rare red sea when Liverpool fans turned the place crimson for the second leg of the club's pre-season tour. The 42,204 in attendance weren’t left empty-handed: a late strike by Rio Ngumoha handed Andoni Iraola’s squad a narrow 1-0 win over Wrexham.
The goal came in the 75th minute. Ngumoha, who came on in the second half, launched a shot that deflected off Wrexham’s Lewis Brunt and into the net. The substitute’s finishing touch was enough to satisfy most in the crowd, though the game lacked intensity at times.
Rough travel and last-minute changes
Liverpool arrived late to New York after a flight from Chicago was delayed. Players and staff were stuck on the tarmac for hours, only checking into their Midtown hotel around midday. They left immediately after the match for their next stop in Chicago.
Several high-profile additions to the squad missed the trip. Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Ryan Gravenberch had not linked up with the team yet, citing ongoing pre-season preparations. Injury and illness also kept Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa away, leaving Iraola with a youth-heavy lineup.
Joshua Abe and the youth experiment
The game gave fans a glimpse of 16-year-old right-winger Joshua Abe. Highly rated, Abe signed a scholarship with Liverpool in June and is due a three-year professional deal when he turns 17 next month. The Warrington-born prospect had multiple suitors, including Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea, before committing to the Reds.
Abe had a golden chance in the first half, set free by Harvey Elliott. But his first touch was heavy, allowing Wrexham’s Danny Ward to make a simple save. The teenager made his presence known but didn’t find the net on his first senior start with Liverpool.
Iraola’s starting front line included Calum Scanlon, Lewis Koumas, and Abe. Though Koumas came close from distance, and Scanlon had a penalty appeal turned away, the half was a mixed bag for the young side. Wrexham’s pre-season fitness showed through physicality and composure.
Second half subs and a tense finish
The second half saw most of Liverpool’s starters replaced, including Abe, Scanlon, and Szoboszlai. The substitutions didn’t shake the game into life. Elliott had a long-range chance stopped by Ward, and Wrexham’s Nathan Broadhead nearly found the equalizer before the hour mark.
Wrexham’s Brunt and Kieffer Moore both had chances to level late, but each shot was misfired from close range. The game settled on a narrow Liverpool victory, with Ngumoha’s late deflection sealing the result.
Szoboszlai created a promising chance in the first half with a single-handed effort, which was put out only by "incidental contact." Rio Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong both displayed smart runs and assured possession on the right side, but their overlapping attributes seemed to allow Wrexham to overload the area. 18-year-old Ifeanyi Ndukwe also impressed in the heart of Liverpool's defense, appearing confident and composed in a position where the Reds are currently thin.
Iraola made four changes at the break, one of those being the introduction of Rio Ngumoha. The teenage sensation proved the difference-maker, driving at the heart of the Wrexham defence before his deflected effort looped into the back of the net for the sole goal of the game 15 minutes from time. Kieffer Moore did waste a good chance for Wrexham in the latter stages, fluffing his lines from close range, but Liverpool held on to make it two wins from two in the United States.
The squad will travel to Chicago ahead of their next game against Leeds on Sunday, when the likes of Florian Wirtz, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak are expected to get their first minutes of pre-season. Iraola: Liverpool still not showing my identity Speaking with the club's media post-match, Iraola said his side still had some way to go to adapt to his style ahead of the new season. "I think overall we were more solid than the other day," he said. "It was a different kind of game. The pitch is quite narrow and there are not a lot of spaces. But, I think we had good spells. And even if the other day we scored more goals and it looked nicer, I think today we were more a team and more collective. "I think we're still not there [showing his identity]. We sometimes arrive too late, but I think it's a step forward, since especially the first half against Sunderland. "That is more of a reference than the second half. Slowly, I hope every game we are closer and closer. We start to add new bodies, because now we are playing with a lot of the young players. We have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive to the beginning of the season in a good place." Wirtz, Gravenberch and Isak set to feature vs Leeds Iraola also confirmed plans to use some of his biggest players when the Reds face Leeds in their final game of the American tour on Sunday. The trio of Wirtz, Gravenberch and Isak have already begun their pre-season training in Chicago following early exits from the World Cup, and will be joined by the rest of their team-mates. When asked if there was a chance Reds fans could see them in action - as well as new signing Jeremy Jacquet - Iraola responded: "Yes, my idea is for Ryan [Gravenberch], for Florian [Wirtz], for Alex [Isak], for even Jacquet to have their first minutes against Leeds. "We'll see how many minutes they can play, but we have to start slowly integrating more of the senior players that have had less training sessions. I think they should be ready on the weekend to have their first minutes." Liverpool's pre-season fixtures August 2: Liverpool vs Leeds - Chicago, 9pm August 9: Liverpool vs Monaco - Anfield, 2.30pm August 16: Liverpool vs Como - Anfield, 6pm
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said his side will take encouragement from their narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool and insisted there are areas where they still know they can improve. Teenager Rio Ngumoha scored the only goal at Yankee Stadium in New York, while Wrexham went closest through Kieffer Moore late on. Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward was forced to make early saves against his old club as Parkinson felt Wrexham were initially loose. But the triple promotion-winning manager believes his side did enough to earn a draw against the 2024-25 Premier League winners. "I thought we grew into the first half and had some really good moments ourselves," Parkinson told the club's website. "In the second period, we had a spell where we couldn't get any control in the game at all for 10 minutes. Once we made the changes, we started to get some possession and looked threatening again. "One straight pass, they broke on us, and a deflected goal has decided the game. We've had enough chances to get a goal and at least draw the game. It was a really good workout for us against some really talented players." This defeat was Wrexham's first of pre-season, having previously beaten Leeds United and Manchester United, and drawn at Polish side Wisla Krakow. "You play Man United, Leeds and Liverpool and you come away with a single-goal defeat as your worst result of the three," Parkinson added. "You've got to say that's not a bad return in terms of results. In terms of performance, there were periods where we need to get better. It's just learning as a team. When we are under a bit of pressure, that's when we need to link the game and give ourselves a breather with the ball."