Midfielder Alberto Aquilani is delighted to have got off the mark for Liverpool in front of the Kop end.
The Italian has failed to live up to his reported £20million price tag since arriving from Roma last summer, with a string of injuries and poor form hampering his progress.
The 25-year-old was handed a rare start in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Portsmouth on Monday, and he rewarded boss Rafa Benitez with a well-taken first-half goal.
The goal visibly gave Aquilani renewed confidence and, upon completing the 90 minutes, the midfielder was left beaming in delight with his goal and the result.
"I feel really good because I've scored my first goal after a really long time. I'm also really happy because of the result - we needed that," he told the club's official website.
"The goal is even more special because I scored it in front of the Kop. I said when I arrived in Liverpool that I wanted to score in front of the Kop and that moment has arrived."
The win moved the Reds into fifth position, but Benitez has his work cut out if he is to steer the team to fourth place having played more games than their nearest rivals.
Aquilani is aware of the task they face, but he believes the win and performance against Pompey is a step in the right direction ahead of Lille on Thursday and Manchester United on Sunday.
"I think I played well but I have to take it step by step. Today (Monday) was a good day and now we look to the next game," said the Italian.
"Above all, the big thing was that we played well and won. We have to take things step by step now. We can only think about Sunday after Thursday.
"Can I do better? Everyone can do better. Fernando (Torres) made things easy. He is a special player, you easily play with him and Stevie (Gerrard).
"We need to win a lot of games to get into the top four and this is the first," he added.
"It has been a difficult season for me because I have had a lot of injuries but now I feel fit and am right to play. I had chance against Portsmouth and I had to take it.
"Most of all, I am happy because we won. We won 4-1 and it was a really good performance, one that we really needed."
The Italian has failed to live up to his reported £20million price tag since arriving from Roma last summer, with a string of injuries and poor form hampering his progress.
The 25-year-old was handed a rare start in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Portsmouth on Monday, and he rewarded boss Rafa Benitez with a well-taken first-half goal.
The goal visibly gave Aquilani renewed confidence and, upon completing the 90 minutes, the midfielder was left beaming in delight with his goal and the result.
"I feel really good because I've scored my first goal after a really long time. I'm also really happy because of the result - we needed that," he told the club's official website.
"The goal is even more special because I scored it in front of the Kop. I said when I arrived in Liverpool that I wanted to score in front of the Kop and that moment has arrived."
The win moved the Reds into fifth position, but Benitez has his work cut out if he is to steer the team to fourth place having played more games than their nearest rivals.
Aquilani is aware of the task they face, but he believes the win and performance against Pompey is a step in the right direction ahead of Lille on Thursday and Manchester United on Sunday.
"I think I played well but I have to take it step by step. Today (Monday) was a good day and now we look to the next game," said the Italian.
"Above all, the big thing was that we played well and won. We have to take things step by step now. We can only think about Sunday after Thursday.
"Can I do better? Everyone can do better. Fernando (Torres) made things easy. He is a special player, you easily play with him and Stevie (Gerrard).
"We need to win a lot of games to get into the top four and this is the first," he added.
"It has been a difficult season for me because I have had a lot of injuries but now I feel fit and am right to play. I had chance against Portsmouth and I had to take it.
"Most of all, I am happy because we won. We won 4-1 and it was a really good performance, one that we really needed."
No comments:
Post a Comment