Steven Gerrard scored a late penalty to compete the turnaround on Sunday afternoon, and the Reds’ manager believes their home is again becoming an intimidating place to visit
Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool can turn Anfield into a “fortress” once again following Sunday’s comeback 3-2 victory over high-flying Tottenham.
A Jan Vertonghen double gave Spurs a 2-1 lead after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring for the hosts, but a Stewart Downing equaliser and a late spot-kick from Steven Gerrard handed the Reds the spoils.
Rodgers hailed the “outstanding character” of his side to fight back from a potentially damaging defeat in their chase from Champions League football, and believes the team spirit can make their home a formidable place to visit as they look for a strong end to the season.
“Our character in the game was outstanding,” he told Sky Sports. “I think the longer we’ve worked together now, earlier in the season that game might’ve tipped against us. That cohesion and mentality in the team now to keep going is there and we’re making Anfield a difficult place to play at; I thought the players were brilliant today.
“It was a great win for us against an outstanding side in Tottenham so it’s another three points and we keep our run going. The last 10 games of the season, no matter how you’ve done – whether it’s at the top or the bottom end – you’re at the business end now, and for us, this has been our focus.
“We’ve got real good momentum at the moment and we’ve set our own performance targets – at this period of the season you want to be winning games. We’ve shown a great character and mentality; it’s a great victory for us and I’m delighted for the players because they put so much into that today.”
Rodgers was full of praise for star striker Luis Suarez, who opened the scoring and won the decisive penalty under pressure from Beniot Assou-Ekotto – and the Liverpool boss is confident he can keep hold of the Uruguayan.
“Football is worldwide now so everybody can see how good he has been,” he told reporters. “But he’s happy and that’s the most important thing. Luis is very happy amongst his mates here and he’s happy with our way of football and you saw today that it doesn’t matter where he plays.
“He’s an outstanding talent, he’s a real pleasure to work with and he knows the trust I put in him and that gives him the platform to go and play and perform.”