Rafa Benitez said his Liverpool side showed ‘character’ as they progressed to the Europa League last-16 with a win at Unirea Urziceni.
The Reds held a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg at Anfield going into the second leg in Romania on Thursday and they fell behind to Bruno Fernandes’ header in the 19th minute. However goals from Javier Mascherano and Ryan Babel put Liverpool in front ahead of the break before Steven Gerrard’s 33rd European goal made it 3-1 and sealed a 4-1 aggregate win.
„We showed character. It was a difficult game because of the pitch. We needed to be calm and do the job properly,” Benitez said.
„To play better we needed to score our goal as they were dangerous at set-pieces.
„I think once we scored a goal everything was easier and the second and third goals made things better.
Benitez also hailed Gerrard for making history by overtaking Alan Shearer’s record as Britain’s leading scorer in Europe.
He added: „It is really positive for him and the club – it also means we are playing a lot of games in Europe so hopefully we can play a lot more and he can score more goals.
„It is very good news for the club. This is a historic club with a lot of records so to have a new record is massive for him and very important to the club.”
Read the article on Eatsleepsport.com
Reds ‘character’ hailed by Benitez
Rafa Benitez said his Liverpool side showed ‘character’ as they progressed to the Europa League last-16 with a win at Unirea Urziceni.
The Reds held a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg at Anfield going into the second leg in Romania on Thursday and they fell behind to Bruno Fernandes’ header in the 19th minute. However goals from Javier Mascherano and Ryan Babel put Liverpool in front ahead of the break before Steven Gerrard’s 33rd European goal made it 3-1 and sealed a 4-1 aggregate win.
„We showed character. It was a difficult game because of the pitch. We needed to be calm and do the job properly,” Benitez said.
„To play better we needed to score our goal as they were dangerous at set-pieces.
„I think once we scored a goal everything was easier and the second and third goals made things better.
Benitez also hailed Gerrard for making history by overtaking Alan Shearer’s record as Britain’s leading scorer in Europe.
He added: „It is really positive for him and the club – it also means we are playing a lot of games in Europe so hopefully we can play a lot more and he can score more goals.
„It is very good news for the club. This is a historic club with a lot of records so to have a new record is massive for him and very important to the club.”
