Friday, 26th October, 2012
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has saluted his side’s defensive solidity in their 1-0 Europa League victory over Anzhi Makhachkala last night.
A wonder goal from winger Stewart Downing settled the match. Downing, who has found himself out of favour under Rodgers so far this season, picked the ball up on the left wing and, as the Anzhi defence backed off, cut inside, surging towards the edge of the penalty area. The former Aston Villa man then unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top right hand corner, giving goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov no chance.
And while Rodgers was happy with his side’s threat going forward, he was also pleased to keep another clean sheet – Liverpool’s third in a row.
"Anzhi have got a terrific group of players and so to get a win and keep another clean sheet was excellent", Rodgers told his post-match press conference.
"But I thought we deserved it, I thought our intent in the game was to go forward and in the second half we stepped it up and did very well."
Rodgers insisted too that Anzhi more than had the weapons to hurt his side, making keeping a clean sheet against the Russian Premier League leaders all the better.
relatedNewsStory"There’s been a massive investment there as a team and a club, both in terms of the playing staff and the management.
"I’ve been an admirer of Samuel Eto’o for years – he’s a top, top striker and there’s a number of other players in the side [who are dangerous]. So we knew it was going to be a tough game."
With the victory, Liverpool moved above Anzhi to secure top spot in Group A, but still face a number of difficult games, including trips to the Dagestan giants and the Italian outfit Udinese, while Young Boys still have to visit Anfield.
Before thinking about further European games though, the Reds must switch their attention back to domestic matters, with the first Merseyside derby against Everton to come in the Premier League on Sunday.
