Coutinho sets up Asia Trophy win for Liverpool

Liverpool won the four-team tournament in which coach Jurgen Klopp called for greater protection for football's creative players.

Liverpool won the pre-season Premier League Asia Trophy tournament in Hong Kong on July 23, 2017.
TRT World and Agencies

Liverpool won the pre-season Premier League Asia Trophy tournament in Hong Kong on July 23, 2017.

Liverpool's Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho delivered a match-winning performance to help his club win the Premier League Asia Trophy against Leicester City on Saturday.

In impressive fashion, Coutinho set up Mohamed Salah before scoring Liverpool's second as the Merseyside club notched up a second Hong Kong win in four days, beating the 2016 Premier League champions 2-1.

Liverpool won the four-team tournament after Jurgen Klopp's side came back from going behind to a goal from Leicester's Islam Slimani after just 12 minutes.

Salah's deft header levelled the scores eight minutes later before Coutinho claimed the winner a minute before halftime as Liverpool followed Wednesday's victory over Crystal Palace with success against the 2016 champions.

In a game that was occasionally feisty, Klopp became embroiled in a touchline row with referee Bobby Madley, and after the game he called for greater protection for football's creative players -- echoing Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer's comments after his own side's win over West Bromwich Albion earlier.

"Football is a difficult game to whistle for a referee," Klopp said. "I know all these things.

"But these things are obvious for me, and that's why I thought it would be nice if he could help the dribbling players a bit more because apart from the challenges, which everybody likes in football, these players make the difference, and these players bring people into the stadium.

"And that's why we have to look after them a little bit." Klopp was delighted with his team's performance over both games played this week in demanding conditions.

"Winning both games is a big thing," he said. "We saw that not everything is working as we wanted it but a lot of things are already there and were here over the week.

"The boys did well."

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