Liverpool must finish job in Italy says Steven Gerrard

Feb 20 2008 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard has warned his team-mates that they need to finish the job against Inter Milan in the San Siro in three weeks’ time after last night’s stunning 2-0 victory over the Serie A champions at Anfield.

Gerrard’s last-minute goal gave Rafael Benitez’s side a potentially crucial two-goal cushion to take to Italy for the second leg after Dirk Kuyt had opened the scoring just five minutes earlier.

Roberto Mancini’s visitors, who have topped their domestic league for the past two seasons and are currently on course for a hat-trick of titles, were reduced to 10 men after half an hour when Italian World Cup winner and former Everton centre-back Marco Materazzi was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

For most of the game it looked like Inter would hold on for a goalless stalemate, especially when ex-Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira, a second-half substitute, survived a penalty shout at the Kop end when he appeared to handle the ball.

Gerrard said: “It was a big night but it means nothing unless we finish the job off.

“We are not getting carried away. It was a good performance and we are happy but it is half-time. For everyone connected with the club, it is big. It is not fair to single people out for praise.”

The Liverpool skipper was also pleased that his team kept on going until the end despite the visitors’ resolute defending. He said: “I wasn’t surprised at all (by Materazzi’s sending-off). It was two bookable offences, he deserved to go. But when it happened, they got a lot behind the ball. They played for 0-0 and we had to be patient.”

Meanwhile, manager Rafael Benitez admitted that the win was crucial to keep Liverpool’s season alive.

The Champions League is now the team’s only realistic chance of silverware with Liverpool being knocked out of the FA Cup at the weekend and seemingly out of the title race.

He said: “I think we needed to win as a team, we wanted to progress in the competition. For me as a manager I’m really pleased when we win and disappoin-ted when we lose, today is a time for being happy.

“Everybody knows how important the Champions League is, so to play these kind of games against the top sides in Europe is really important for the club, for the players and for everyone.

“I’m really pleased with the attitude of the players and for the supporters and the club.

“I was confident because the team was playing well. We had possession and were passing and passing the ball, trying to create chances.

“We knew at the end to score two goals in the last few minutes was much better.”

Although Liverpool had a numerical advantage for the last hour, it took them until the last five minutes to break Inter down but Benit-ez felt the game could have been different if his side had taken the lead earlier.

He said: “We were playing against a good team, 10 players who were could see were well-organised. They were defending well and trying to go on the counter-attack so it was difficult.

“I think for me the sending-off was clear and also we should have had a penalty but you cannot change things after the game so you must be pleased with the result.

“If we’d have scored early it could have been different because when it’s 10 against 11 and they need to go forward maybe we’d have found more spaces.”

Liverpool’s victory was in stark contrast to the fortunes on Saturday when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Barnsley despite creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities.

Although it seems odd that his team can achieve such varying results in the space of four days, Benitez, who recalled his big names for this tie, stressed that it is important to make use of his squad over the season.

He said: “I have explained you need to change players if you want to keep all the players fresh. The team can do these things (beating top sides like Inter) because we have good players but over 10 months you need a big squad.

“It’s a different competition and a different situation. Against Barnsley we created enough chances but couldn’t take them and today we had less chances but scored two goals.

“We knew it was important not to concede today, it was one of the main things if we wanted to have a chance in the second game so to score two goals at the end was perfect.

“It will be difficult for them but they’re a very good team so we must be careful.”

Materazzi will be suspended for the second leg at the San Siro on March 11. Also missing from second leg will his central defensive partner Ivan Cordoba, who was carried off with a knee injury that is expected to keep him out for around two months.