Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard made his first appearance in six months for the Reds at Brighton in the Carling Cup following a nagging groin injury. The Liverpool captain played the final 15 minutes of the match on Wednesday and managed to stay injury-free. The Reds won the match, 2-1, and advanced to the fourth round of the Carling Cup.
The score was surely closer than what most people would have hypothesized, but Gerrard attributed the scoreline to a “fantastic” Brighton side. Liverpool were not bad themselves, but Brighton showed those who were watching their quality.
“They were fantastic. We expected them to have a period in the game where they would put us under pressure.
“I think the scoreline shows how well Brighton did. They ran us right until the end, and this guy [Craig Noone] was fantastic tonight.
“He kept running around our full-backs and caused problems all night. Brighton are a good side and I can see them definitely making the play-offs in their league.”
Gerrard also shrugged off concerns that he did not get enough minutes to be fit for this weekend’s Premier League action and he remains optimistic that he will be selected to Liverpool’s 18-man squad which will face Wolves at the weekend. He told Sky Sports the following:
“I suppose if we were two or three-nil up at halftime then I may have gotten a few more minutes, but tonight isn’t about me.
“It was about progressing to the next round of the cup and getting that Tottenham performance out of our system and I think we have done that tonight.
“It’s up to the manager now. Obviously I’ve been out for six months so it’s all about getting training sessions and matches under my belt so I can get match fit and get to the form I want to be at, but it’s just nice to come through the first test.”
Former Liverpool academy winger Craig Noone was satisfied with his sides performance versus the Premier League giants.
“As Steven said, I think we did well tonight. We showed that we can play and that’s what we do. We play football right from the back so I think we can take pride in our performance.
“Playing against Liverpool has been unbelievable. To play against Gerrard, to just stand here next to him, it’s a dream come true.
“I think in the second half we had a few chances as well that we could have scored, but I think Liverpool showed that bit of quality and took their chances.”
As good as it was to see Gerrard on the pitch, the feel good story of the game was surely Noone. The Brighton winger used to be a roof-fitter and he happened to work on Steven Gerrard’s house. It doesn’t get any more blue-collar than that.
Gerrard said of Noone:
“Yeah, he’s a Downsworth lad, a scouser, did a great job on my house too.
“In my eyes tonight he was man of the match and he was unlucky not to score.”
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