Liverpool vs Manchester City: Steven Gerrard slips again...but this time it doesn't come back to haunt him as Reds win

Pre-season International Champions Cup game saw Liverpool emerge victorious on penalties in New York

Steven Gerrard smiles during the 2-2 draw with Manchester City (Getty Images)

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard must have immediately thought “not again”. The Reds’ talismanic midfielder slipped during their pre-season friendly against Manchester City to allow striker Stevan Jovetic to steam through on goal and give the Premier League champions the lead.

While the match was nowhere near as important as the league encounter against Chelsea last season, the error brought back haunting memories of Gerrard’s costly slip that allowed former Blues striker Demba Ba to score and pave the way to 2-0 defeat for Brendan Rodgers’ side that went a long way to costing them the title.

The 2-2 draw at the Yankees Stadium was a low-key affair in comparison and neither team will have been too concerned with defeat, but this time Liverpool did recover to draw level with City and emerge triumphant on penalties.

However, Gerrard won’t want a repeat of his error when the games take on far more importance, as he attempted to block a Jesus Navas cross only to allow the ball to trickle under his feet and into the path of Jovetic to open the scoring.

Jordan Henderson would level the scores just six minutes later, but Jovetic added his second of the match and fourth in pre-season to restore City’s lead not long after. Thankfully for the Reds, England’s shining light in a dismal World Cup campaign Raheem Sterling scored a fine finish to end the 90 minutes with the scores locked at 2-2, and when Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Navas all missed their penalties, Liverpool claimed victory in the International Champions Cup group game.

Gerrard can also take comfort in the fact that the two will meet again in just over three weeks’ time as Liverpool will travel to the Etihad for their second Premier League match of the season.