
Liverpool last game in the European leg of their pre-season tour in a 1-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna.
A second half free kick from Steffen Hofmann ensured victory for the home side at the Ernst Happel Stadium in a game which Rafael Benitez used to field most of his first team players.
Glen Johnson, who made his first appearance in a red shirt on Wednesday in the goalless draw with St Gallen, missed the game through a slight Achilles injury. He was joined on the sidelines by Academy graduate and fellow full-back Stephen Darby. Also watching from the stands were the club's Spanish contingent of Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa, Albert Riera, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso - who has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid recently - all reporting for pre-season following their appearance in the Confederations Cup last month.
The visitors started strongly with Ryan Babel bursting through Vienna's defence and firing low but saw his effort saved by Helge Payer. Shortly after Krisztian Nemeth found himself on the receiving end of a Nabil El Zhar cross but failed to convert the chance, firing wide.
Six minutes in, Rapid took the lead but the referee ruled Erwin Hoffer's strike out after the linesman flagged for offside. The 28-year-old went close shortly after but saw his volley blaze high over the crossbar.
Despite going in goalless at the break, Liverpool were on the back foot and Rapid nearly broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time after a defensive mix-up between Emiliano Insua and Damien Plessis but Erwin Hoffer's effort was pushed away by the Reds' second-choice stopper Diego Cavalieri.
In the second half, Benitez made nine changes to his team with only Insua and Swiss right-back Philipp Degen remaining on the pitch after the break.
In the 60th minute Dirk Kuyt was booked for pulling down Markus Heikkinen on the edge of the box which led to a free kick, taken by Rapid captain Hofman. The shot was curled low and out of the reach of replacement goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to give the home side a one-goal lead. The Austrians nearly doubled their advantage when Stefan Maierhofer put the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out after another offside flag by the linesman.
Liverpool's first real chance of the half fell to Yossi Benayoun when the Israeli curled a free kick over the wall but his effort found the safe hands of Raimund Hedl. Kuyt went close after he was played in by David Ngog but could only blast his shot into the side netting. The Dutchman was gifted another scoring opportunity shortly after but was blocked by defender Markus Katzer.
Benayoun had arguably Liverpool's best chance of the game but failed to take full advantage when he struggled to inject enough pace into an effort from inside the area after meeting a cross from Kuyt.
The Reds' pre-season tour continues with a trip to the Far East where they will face the national side of Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday.
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