Liverpool, Spurs play scoreless tie

By foxsports
Published

Liverpool and Tottenham played to a scoreless tie Saturday in an exhibition before 42,723 fans at the home stadium of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

American goalkeeper Brad Friedel went the distance for Tottenham and preserved the shutout with a leaping grab of a shot by Martin Skrtel in the 54th minute.

Brad Jones played the first half in goal for the Reds and Peter Gulacsi took over after halftime.

The Ravens play on artificial turf, but this soccer field consisted entirely of natural grass laid in place securely on top of the carpet. Workers installed more than 500 rolls of Kentucky Blue Grass sod to cover an estimated 86,400 square feet for the match between teams in England's Premier League.

Fans usually attend Ravens games dressed in purple jerseys with the names ''LEWIS'' or ''FLACCO'' on the back. On this day, however, the stands were filled with fans wearing red shirts and jerseys, many of them with ''GERRARD'' atop the back. Steven Gerrard is captain of Liverpool, the 18-time English champion that is coming off a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League.

On a hot and humid day, Gerrard was rested until the 61st minute by first-year manager Brendan Rodgers. Many in the crowd stood and cheered his entry into the match.

Tottenham took five shots in the first half compared to four for Liverpool, but the Spurs had only one shot on goal.

Tottenham dominated the time of possession during the opening 45 minutes and had the best scoring chance. Minutes before halftime, Aaron Lennon fired a shot from left side that eluded Jones and bounced low off the right post.

In the 27th minute, Liverpool's Adam Morgan took a left-footed shot from the left side that Friedel smothered at the corner of the net. Both teams substituted liberally in the second half.

Liverpool appointed Rodgers as manager in June, and the Reds are in the process of adjusting their game to his style before the season opener at West Bromwich Albion on Aug. 18. Liverpool lost an exhibition `to Italy's Roma 2-1 on Wednesday night at Fenway Park in Boston.

Coming off a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, Tottenham is preparing for the upcoming season under new coach Andre Villas-Boas.