A Liverpool legends team led by Robbie Fowler got the better of Borussia Dortmund in front of 14,839 fans inside Hong Kong Stadium on a blazing hot Saturday afternoon on June 8th.
Liverpool started the brighter and took the lead through Salif Diao who volleyed home from inside the six-yard box, after Roman Weidenfeller failed to deal with a floated Fowler free kick.
After 20 minutes, Dortmund equalised as Mohamed Zidan rolled back the years to charge forward and square the ball for Mladen Petric to tap into an empty net. Next up came the game’s controversial point as Diao received the ball straight from kick off and launched it into the net from his own half, with the Black and Yellows still settling into position from the equaliser. The goal caused mild outrage from the BVB bench and Weidenfeller who protested to referee Gigi Law to no avail.
Dortmund ended the half the stronger and after first hitting the bar, Ewerthon slotted home the equaliser, following a Zidan through ball.
In the second half Diao almost sealed his hat-trick driving an effort from 30 yards that stung the palms of the BVB keeper. As the game understandably slowed down in Hong Kong’s humidity, the Reds took the game with ten minutes left. First Luis Garcia was tripped in the penalty area, allowing Fowler to tuck the ball inside the right-hand post.
The game finished 3-2 to Liverpool with Diao taking the Man of the Match award and Liverpool players taking turns lifting a balloon Champions League trophy in front of their delighted fans in the East Stand, in homage to the Reds securing their sixth European Cup.
Photos by Dennis Lo, Ryan Kam, Ken Wu, and Chris Lau.
