Thursday, 13th February, 2014
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has hailed his side’s character after they came from behind twice to win 3-2 against a spirited Fulham team yesterday.
Kolo Toure’s own goal gave the Cottagers the lead in the eighth minute at Craven Cottage, but in-form striker Daniel Sturridge made it 1-1 before half-time.
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The Reds pressed hard after the break for the winner, but it was Rene Meulensteen’s side who scored again in the 63rd minute – Kieran Richardson took full advantage of a defensive error to put the hosts in front for the second time.
Philippe Coutinho’s strike nine minutes later made it 1-1 and it seemed like the game was heading for a draw.
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However, Sturridge was fouled in the box by Sascha Riether in the dying stages of the match and skipper Steven Gerrard calmly slotted home the resultant spot-kick to hand Liverpool the full three points.
And Rodgers was delighted with the way his side, who thrashed Arsenal 5-1 on Saturday, managed to stay calm and focused in view of grinding out a win against Fulham.
"It was a really important win for us tonight after the game at the weekend, where we were outstanding”, the manager explained to his club’s official site.
"We had to show some different qualities tonight; one of them being character. It was a wonderful demonstration of the real togetherness of the group. It was very, very pleasing.
“I can only give huge credit to the players tonight, because we had to dig deep to get that performance and result. It shows there's a lot of character and there's still a way to go for this team.
"Tonight you saw the real development of the team in terms of character yet again. You saw young players in pressure situations stay calm and stay focused.”
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