Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for the Blues in just the third minute of the contest with a clinical finish.

An own goal by Jarell Quansah followed in the second period through unfortunate circumstances after he was unable to get out of the way of Virgil van Dijk’s clearance.

The captain responded via a powerful header with five minutes remaining to set up a frantic finish, but it was the hosts who had the final say when Cole Palmer converted a penalty in the sixth minute of added time.

Team

Liverpool made six changes for the trip to the capital.

Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones all started, while Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas and Quansah also came into the line-up.

Liverpool: Alisson, Endo (Mac Allister, 69), Van Dijk, Salah, Jones, Gakpo, Elliott (Szoboszlai, 69), Jota (Nunez, 57), Tsimikas (Chiesa, 82), Alexander-Arnold (Bradley, 57), Quansah.

Unused subs: Kelleher, Konate, Diaz, Robertson.

First half

The game was in just its third minute when the the hosts made the first mark on the scoresheet in the opening attack of the game.

Pedro Neto found space down the right flank and his low cross reached Fernandez inside the area, leaving the midfielder to take a touch and finish low past Alisson Becker from 10 yards out.

Jota’s attempted volley from a deflected cross saw a good chance go to waste shortly after, while Cody Gakpo tested the reactions of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez with a dipping effort from the left.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was next to see a drive blocked by the retreating Marc Cucurella and at the other end Moises Caicedo saw a cross clip the top of the crossbar as the teams exchanged attacks.

The game carried on at a competitive pace though neither side were looking likely to add to the scoreline before the half-time break.

Ahead of the interval, however, Neto went closest with a shot into the side-netting from the edge of the area, while Noni Madueke had the ball in the net after rounding Alisson, but was well offside in the build-up with play already halted.