Jovanovic loses on Liverpool debut

Serbian forward Milan Jovanovic made his Liverpool debut on Saturday, as a young Reds team fell to a 1-0 defeat in a pre-season friendly at Kaiserslautern.

Jovanovic, who joined on a free transfer from Standard Liege and represented his country at the World Cup, played the first 45 minutes before being withdrawn by new coach Roy Hodgson.

Ilian Micanski’s close-range tap-in was enough to secure victory for the newly promoted Bundesliga side.

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s city rivals Everton enjoyed a 3-0 win at Championship team Preston North End.

New signing Jermain Beckford scored twice after coming off the bench, while French striker Louis Saha was also on target with a fine low drive.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa lost 2-1 at Irish side Bohemians, Bolton drew 1-1 at local rivals Rochdale and Turkey international Tuncay claimed a hat-trick as Stoke thrashed non-league Newcastle Town 6-0.

Birmingham rounded off their tour of the Far East with a third consecutive victory, overcoming Chinese side Liaoning Hongyun 2-0.

Garry O’Connor gave the Blues an 18th minute lead when he converted from a tight angle after linking well with new signing Nikola Zigic and Sebastian Larsson’s volley completed the scoring before half-time.

There were contrasting fortunes for two of the sides promoted from the Championship last season, as Blackpool beat Leyton Orient 2-1 and Newcastle lost 2-1 at Norwich.

Former Everton and Arsenal striker Francis Jeffers, who is on trial at Blackpool, gave the Seasiders the lead in the 23rd minute, with Rob Edwards heading in a last-minute winner after Scott McGleish equalised for Orient.

Shola Ameobi was on target for Newcastle, while Peter Lovenkrands headed against the crossbar in the 89th minute as the Magpies chased an equaliser.

Chelsea and Manchester City both lost their latest friendlies on Friday evening, with Chelsea going down 3-1 to Ajax in Amsterdam and City beaten 2-0 by Sporting Lisbon in New York.