Football
PA Sport 10y

Lambert debuts for Reds; Chelsea fight

Rickie Lambert made his first appearance in a Liverpool shirt as Brendan Rodgers' side came from behind to beat Preston 2-1 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

Lambert, who supported the Reds as a boy, made his dream move to Anfield from Southampton earlier this summer and played 45 minutes at Deepdale before being replaced at half-time.

Another summer signing, Emre Can, also started the match but the young midfielder was taken off after just 20 minutes due to tightness in his calf.

Philippe Coutinho, Fabio Borini -- who remains a target of Sunderland -- Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel and Jon Flanagan were included in a strong Liverpool line-up but it was Preston who took the lead through Josh Brownhill.

Liverpool, however, scored twice in three minutes in the second half as Suso applied a curling finish in the 74th minute before Kristoffer Peterson side-footed home a winner.

Chelsea also came from behind to beat AFC Wimbledon 3-2 thanks to two goals from substitute John Terry.

Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Kurt Zouma were all named in a young starting team that fell 2-0 behind before half-time courtesy of Alan Bennett's opener after 38 seconds and Matt Tubbs' penalty.

Terry was introduced at the interval and the captain scored two goals either side of Salah's equaliser to seal a second pre-season victory for Jose Mourinho's men.

Arsenal's afternoon was more comfortable as they eased to a 2-0 win at Boreham Wood.

Aaron Ramsey started for the Gunners alongside Carl Jenkinson, Nacho Monreal and Wojciech Szczesny but it wasn't until the 68th minute that Kristoffer Olson gave the FA Cup winners the lead.

Benik Afobe then made sure of the victory with a penalty late on.

Mauricio Pochettino's first match in charge of Tottenham ended in a 3-3 draw with the Seattle Sounders and former Spur forward Clint Dempsey.

Lewis Holtby scored on a header in the 11th minute off a pass from Harry Kane. Gonzalo Pineda equalised with a chipped penalty kick that beat Friedel in the 33rd minute after defender Chad Marshall was brought down during a corner kick.

The Sounders took the lead as Osvaldo Alonso beat former U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Friedel from 30 yards early in the second half. Alonso's goal off a loose ball zipped past Friedel and hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing in the net.

Roberto Soldado converted a penalty in the 55th minute after he was fouled in the area to even the score at 2.

Tristan Bowen put the Sounders ahead 3-2 in the 79th minute when he tapped in a cross from Sean Okoli, but U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin was called for handling in the penalty area moments later and Yago Falque converted the penalty kick.

Sunderland did their confidence no harm at all with an emphatic 5-1 win over Darlington.

New arrivals Billy Jones, Costel Pantilimon and Jordi Gomez all played a part in the contest but it was experienced centre forward Steven Fletcher who did the most damage.

Fletcher, who was making his first appearance since March, marked his return from injury with two goals before being taken off at half-time.

Emanuele Giaccherini, Connor Wickham and Gomez added three more in the second period while Gary Brown scored Darlington's consolation.

New West Brom boss Alan Irvine was denied a pre-season victory against Wycombe as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw behind closed doors.

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