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Le Bris happy with progress despite defeat to Liverpool
Le Bris happy with progress despite defeat to Liverpool
Regis Le Bris was happy with what he saw from his Sunderland side despite losing 4-2 to Liverpool in the first friendly of their US tour.
The Sunderland boss fielded two different sides in each half, with his more experienced XI - including Wilson Isidor, Dan Ballard and Romaine Mundle - beginning the contest in Nashville.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It was an interesting game - two different halves," said Le Bris. "We split the game time and for the first half we started with good intentions and were progressive.
"We conceded an early goal but we felt like we found the solution with the ball and without the ball.
"We were dominant in the first half and we felt like we were getting better as a team.
"We scored and that was really important.
"It was another 45 minutes to build the foundations. The second half was a good experience for our young lads."
The Black Cats started well, but it was a well-worked team goal from Liverpool that broke the deadlock as teenager Kieran Morrison found the bottom corner from Harvey Elliott's pass.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSunderland responded just before the half hour mark as Enzo Le Fee unleashed a world-class strike into the top corner after running 25 yards solo.
Mundle and Isidor then had their chances before the half-time whistle was blown.
Le Bris' second-half squad was made up of a lot of young academy players, whilst Liverpool introduced Dominic Szoboszlai, Milos Kerkez and Federico Chiesa.
This did not deter the young Black Cats though, as Timur Tutierov capitalised on poor Liverpool defending and sent his shot through the legs of Giorgi Mamardashvili to give Sunderland the lead.
Liverpool soon found their flow and Szoboszlai scored a belter from outside the box to level the game at 2-2, before a lapse in concentration was ruthlessly punished by Chiesa.
Lewis Koumas scored Liverpool's fourth and rounded-off a clinical second-half for the Reds.
Sunderland face Leeds next at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey on Thursday (00.30 BST).