Sterling strikes as reserves draw
Raheem Sterling netted for Liverpool Reserves as they were held to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
The winger showed flashes of brilliance from the start for Rodolfo Borrell's side. After one minute he meandered through a wall of Arsenal defenders, leaving six of them stranded in his wake, before shooting straight at Damian Martinez.
Then on six minutes, he brought the ball down with a delicate touch on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area and despite being surrounded by the opposition, turned and nutmegged Jernade Meade before firing past Martinez for 1-0.
The Gunners might have levelled when Benik Afobe struck the post and it took some fine keeping from Brad Jones to deny the diligent Arsenal forward as he was bearing down on goal moments later.
Five minutes after the interval the away side scored. Oguzhan Ozyakup was released down the left flank and he found Abou Diaby bursting into the penalty area. The returning first-team player was left with a simple tap-in for 1-1.
Arsenal began to settle into the game and pressurise.
On 60 minutes Brad Jones was alert to deny Chuks Aneke's half-volley after the ball sat up invitingly for him on the edge of the Liverpool box.
Sterling got in behind the Arsenal line on several occasions but Liverpool were unable to fill the box when they broke. Krisztian Adorjan might have put the Reds back in front when he saw a good chance saved after great work from Suso down the right.