Soccer

‘We’re going for title’, says Steven Gerrard

Liverpool captain scored twice from the spot as Merseysiders won well at Old Trafford

Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring Liverpool’s second goal at Old Trafford. Photograph: Peter Powell/EPA
Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring Liverpool’s second goal at Old Trafford. Photograph: Peter Powell/EPA
Sun Mar 16 2014 - 17:04

Skipper Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool have proved they are genuine title contenders after romping to a 3-0 win at Manchester United.

Gerrard scored two penalties, and even missed a third, before Luis Suarez completed a memorable afternoon for the Reds. Brendan Rodgers's side are now four points behind leaders Chelsea and, with a game in hand, are firmly in the title picture.

"I have come here many times before and been played off the park," Gerrard said on Sky Sports 1. "They are a fantastic team and this is one of the most difficult places to come in the Premier League.

“To come here and dominate from start to finish, we’re still going away slightly disappointed that we didn’t score more goals.

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“We will enjoy this tonight, but we’ll need to move on quickly.

“We’ve showed today that we are genuine contenders and we are going to fight to the end for this.”

Asked if his team-mates are confident they can end Liverpool’s long title drought, Gerrard added: “We believe it, but I’ve said many times that in football the easiest thing to do is talk the talk.

“We’ve got to go and treat Cardiff like Manchester United and we’ve got to treat Sunderland like Manchester United. If we do we will win a lot of games until the end of the season. The rest of the teams around us have to believe we’re going for it.”

Gerrard praised Rodgers for his role in the win, after the manager’s decision to employ a diamond formation in midfield enabled the visitors to control matters from the centre of the park.

“I think you’ve got to give credit to the manager,” he said. “He keeps switching and tinkering with the formation and the tactics. We played a diamond today and we totally bossed the middle of the park.

“We know that if we do that we have two of the best strikers in the world to do the damage. I think if you ask the Manchester United defenders they’ve not had a harder 90 minutes than that.”

Gerrard missed the chance to complete a rare hat-trick of penalties, when he hit his third kick against a post.

“It was strange (to take three penalties),” he added. “I maybe got a bit cocky with the third one, but I’m very pleased to score the two important ones.”