Los Angeles (AFP) – American international Christian Pulisic scored two second-half goals to lift Borussia Dortmund to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in an International Champions Cup friendly in North Carolina on Saturday.
Pulisic almost completed the hat trick in the 93rd minute but his blast from in close was stopped and the rebound went to teammate Jacob Bruun Larsen who deposited it into the empty net as Dortmund improved to 2-0 in the 18-team pre-season tournament.
With Mohamed Salah, Pedro Chirivella, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane and Marko Grujic sitting out it was an inexperienced Liverpool side that took to the field at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 25th minute with a perfectly timed leaping header off a long cross from Andrew Robertson.
Dortmund’s best chance to score in the first half was a sharp angle shot by Marius Wolf that Liverpool keeper Loris Karius easily handled.
Both teams swapped out several players to begin the second half which brought the German side to life.
Liverpool’s Sheyi Ojo had a chance to pad the lead on a solo opportunity in the 64th minute but his shot deflected off goalkeeper Marwin Hitz and then bounced off the crossbar.
That helped set the stage for Pulisic’s heroics. He tied it 1-1 in the 66th minute on a penalty conversion, hammering his attempt straight down the middle of the net.
Pulisic scored again in the 89th minute by finishing off a nice passing play with teammate Marcel Schmelzer with a low shot to the near post.
