The quality and importance of Liverpool's 1-0 win over Reading on Saturday has been praised and outlined by Reds manager Brendan Rodgers...
At the fifth time of asking, a relieved Anfield finally witnessed Liverpool win their first home Premier League game of the season.
In truth, the victory, courtesy of 17-year-old Raheem Sterling's first competitive senior strike in the 29th minute, should have been more comfortable but Kop boss Brendan Rodgers was still happy to have ended his Anfield hoodoo.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rodgers said: "It's been a long time coming, we should have had three points here long before today. But on the back of an international break and players travelling all over the world, I thought it was a terrific performance.
"We need to improve our finishing, which is an ongoing theme, but as long as we get three points and a clean sheet, that's the most important thing. I'm delighted for the players and the supporters.
"You don't want it to keep dragging on. What always gave me comfort was the mindset and ability of the players. They've kept working."
The three points, only the club's third from fourteen home league fixtures in the current calendar year, lifts Liverpool onto nine points and 12th place in the current table.
Sterling will no doubt take the plaudits and headlines, by scoring he becamethe second youngest Liverpool scorer in Premier League history, behind former England striker Michael Owen.
The ex-Queens Park Rangers trainee put in a fantastic all round display, in addition to his goal, and rightly received a standing ovation upon being substituted in the dying minutes.
Discussing the goal, for which Sterling drifted inside to latch onto a fine Luis Suarez pass before cooly slotting home, Rodgers revealed it was something they had been working on in training.
"It's a part of the game we've been working on. The players on the outside, the No.7 and No.11, we're trying to get them in the positions so they can make those runs," admitted the 39-year-old who had a brief period in charge of Reading back I'm 2009.
"He's got good pace, Raheem, so once he's on the inside he can break the line of the back four.
"We've been doing a lot of work on that on the training field but all the credit goes to him because he's got to identify the moment to go in.
"It was a wonderful finish because he was going away from the goal, and he's got a quick defender tracking him.
"He's a terrific talent and he's got a good head on young shoulders."
Creator of the strike, Suarez, was onceagain at the heart of Liverpool's most impressive passages of play and Rodgers was quick to share some of Sterling's spotlight with the Uruguayan.
"He's travelled all around the world, played at altitude, got back late Thursday, trained on Friday morning and still goes out and runs and works and gives his all for the team, doesn't want to come off," praised Rodgers.
"He's an incredible character.He created opportunities for himself. He'll be disappointed he hasn't scored today."
When subsequently asked by reporters if Suarez needed to be more prolific, Rodgers replied: "He scores a lot of chances. He's not perfect, he's not going to score every chance, but he's got a great return if you look at his stats, at his goals return at Ajax and since he's come into here.
"There's no doubt he'll want to be a wee bit more clinical, and going forward we want to get some more players around him who can take the load off him as well."
Given the nervousness that was being felt towards the end of the game, as the Reds continually failed to make the victory safe, the need for more potency is clearly going to be a key factor in determining the successfulness of Liverpool's season.
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Click here to read Vital Liverpool's match report of this game
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