BRISBANE, July 17

New recruit James Milner scored the winner as Liverpool recovered from an early goal down to beat Australia’s Brisbane Roar 2-1 in a pre-season game in Brisbane on Friday.

England midfielder Milner finished well surrounded by Roar defenders to claim his first goal for his new club in the 75th minute. The Roar, in their first match under new coach and former Socceroo striker John Aloisi, looked on par with a rusty Liverpool outfit before the English giants got the upper hand. Milner slid the ball through the legs of Roar captain Jade North before beating goalkeeper Jamie Young with a deflected shot.

Young made a string of strong saves and had plenty of reason to perform in his reunion with Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, who recruited him as a teenager into Reading’s academy. The Roar took a surprise lead after 17 minutes when Dimi Petratos stepped past Martin Skrtel and then unleashed from near  penalty spot to beat Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. But Brisbane’s lead didn’t last long as it was all square 11 minutes later, with an Adam Lallana equaliser.

Lallana threw off the advances of Roar defender Jack Hingert, and then found the top corner with a curling shot. Liverpool opened their tour with a 4-0 victory over the Thai All Stars in Bangkok on Tuesday and they will remain in Australia to play Adelaide United in Adelaide on Monday.