Rio Ngumoha’s deflected second-half goal secured a 1-0 victory for an experimental Liverpool side over Wrexham in a pre-season friendly at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. The 75th-minute strike looped off Wrexham defender Lewis Brunt to beat goalkeeper Danny Ward, giving new head coach Andoni Iraola his second win on tour.
The match was a low-key affair in front of 42,204 fans, including Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Liverpool fielded a youthful starting XI, with six players lacking Premier League experience, after travel delays forced the team to arrive in New York only hours before kick-off.
Teenager Joshua Abe, making his first senior start, was denied by Ward early on after being played through by Harvey Elliott. Wrexham, further along in pre-season, grew into the game but failed to test Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who made saves from Sam Smith and Nathan Broadhead.
Iraola made four half-time changes, introducing Ngumoha, who provided the breakthrough. Wrexham had late chances through Brunt and Kieffer Moore but could not find an equaliser. Ward, the former Liverpool goalkeeper, made several sharp saves to keep Wrexham in contention before Ngumoha’s winner.
