Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Brendan Rodgers praises Raheem Sterling after Liverpool triumph

BURNLEY -- Brendan Rodgers hailed Raheem Sterling as a "quick learner" who recovered from the disappointment of failing to beat Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to score a similar chance at Burnley and secure Liverpool a 1-0 win.

The England winger, who is playing as an emergency striker for Liverpool, was denied by De Gea on a series of occasions when Liverpool lost 3-0 at Old Trafford earlier this month.

But sent clear at Turf Moor by Philippe Coutinho, he held his nerve to go around Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton and beat defender Jason Shackell, who was backtracking to try and clear off the line.

Rodgers, who denied his side were lucky to win, said in a news conference: "It showed what a great learner he is. He is in a position now where he will receive a lot of opportunities in that kind of situation because of his pace.

"His pace will take him away from anyone and since that game he has gone away with the coaches and worked on that type of finish, both left side and right side.

"He showed great composure and a great ability to learn, to beat the keeper and finished it really well. His development and ability to want to be better has got us the three points."

Liverpool struggled in the first half at Turf Moor but Rodgers claimed they merited the result, insisting: "No, not all. I thought that in terms of our character and resilience in the game we showed outstanding qualities when needed.

"They pressed really hard and made it difficult for us, particularly in the first half. I thought we were better second half. There weren't many chances but the one clear one that came to us, we put it away. We deserved three points for the character we showed."

Rodgers was also adamant he did not consider changing his 3-4-2-1 system at half-time to bring on a specialist left-back.

"No," he said. "I just felt that wasn't the issue; that was not our problem."

Liverpool lost goalkeeper Brad Jones, who came off after a quarter of an hour, but Rodgers said he will not look for an emergency loan ahead of Monday's game against Swansea.

He added: "If he is missing out, we have young Danny Ward and he will come on to the bench."

Burnley manager Sean Dyche was encouraged by his side's performance but rued the result.

He said: "We had our pocket pinched today with how they got away with a win. That was as well as we have played, considering the opposition, since I have been at the club. If not totally dominant, we were very dominant."

^ Back to Top ^