Classy Coutinho and Salah paint Hong Kong Red as they lift Asia Trophy
Brazilian attacking midfielder a sight to behold as he treats capacity crowd at Hong Kong Stadium to a dazzling display; new Egyptian signing finds the target too as Merseysiders defeat Leicester City 2-1 in final
Maybe it was because European giants Barcelona fired the starting gun in what is likely to become a summer-long pursuit of the magical Brazilian earlier this week, but a full-house of almost exclusively Liverpool supporters inside Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday night wanted to make sure Philippe Coutinho knew how much he meant to them.
The 25-year-old responded in kind as he treated the 39,498-strong So Kon Po crowd to a mesmerising display of attacking wizardry during Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Leicester City to claim the English Premier League’s Asia Trophy.
With the crowd booing anyone who went near to him, wildly cheering his every touch before the frenzied celebration of his scintillating winning goal, it’s highly likely the 25-year-old got the message.
Coutinho was a joy to behold. Sublime, pin-point accurate cross-pitch passing, devilish off-the-ball movement and dizzying dribbling was all complemented by flicked through balls so deft, they almost caught out his own teammates. At one point, Riyad Mahrez was booked for simply hauling the forward to the ground after he had twisted the Algerian inside out.
Luckily for Liverpool, one such through ball was read perfectly by record-signing Mohamed Salah who combined superbly with the man-of-the-match as the Reds fought back from 1-0 down to claim the trophy after Islam Slimani had put the Foxes ahead against the run of play after 11 minutes.
Following a period of sustained Liverpool pressure, a cross from Leicester’s Christian Fuchs found Slimani who beat James Milner too easily at the back post and headed past goalkeeper Loris Karius to give the Foxes an early lead and stun the crowd.
The goal sparked Liverpool into action.
