Wirtz opens his Liverpool account

Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal as the Premier League champion beat Yokohama F Marinos 3-1 in a preseason friendly in Japan on Wednesday.

French forward Hugo Ekitike made his debut for Liverpool, one week after joining from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported 69 million pounds ($92 million).

Wirtz equalized after Yokohama opened the scoring early in the second half, the German slamming home a right-footed shot from inside the box in front of over 65,000 fans.

"I am really happy that I could score my first goal. I hope there are more to come," said Wirtz, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in a blockbuster deal.

Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha also scored for Liverpool, which announced the sale of Colombian forward Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said he was happy to see his team come from behind to win, but was not pleased with their missed chances.

"It could be because of a tough training camp, and it could be because of the heat," said the Dutchman. "But, that's something that we definitely have to improve."

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker missed the match after traveling home to Brazil "for private reasons", Liverpool said.

Shortly before kickoff, an emotional tribute was given to Diogo Jota, who passed away last month in a car accident.

Liverpool dominated throughout, but Yokohama opened the scoring when Asahi Uenaka pounced in the 55th minute to beat Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Wirtz leveled when he latched onto a Mohamed Salah pass.

AFP