So this is what Liverpool will be missing if Steven Gerrard calls time on his Anfield career. Reduced to a cameo on the 16th anniversary of his Liverpool debut, the former England captain returned re-energised on a night when he inspired his club to a second win in four days. Rolling back the years in an advanced attacking role, Gerrard registered his first goal in 12 appearances as Liverpool gave their season a shot in the arm.
It was not quite as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, with Leicester continuing to make life awkward for Liverpool even after they were reduced to 10 men in the 63rd minute, when Wes Morgan was given a straight red card for a professional foul on Rickie Lambert. Liverpool had to endure some anxious moments thereafter but the pressure valve was released when Gerrard escaped on the left to play a part in Liverpool’s third – a move that finished with Jordan Henderson dispatching Raheem Sterling’s backheel.
Gerrard was adamant that he should also have been awarded a penalty, when Kasper Schmeichel rushed from his line and collided with the Liverpool captain in the 73rd minute. Lee Mason waved away the appeals; Rodgers and Gerrard felt that the referee’s thinking was influenced by the fact that pointing to the spot would almost certainly have meant a red card for Schmeichel and Leicester finishing the game with nine men. “For me it is a blatant penalty,” Gerrard said.
That decision apart – and it was not clear cut – Liverpool had little to complain about on an evening when Rodgers sounded like a man who felt that his decision to rest Gerrard against Stoke on Saturday had been totally vindicated.
“I think you saw the energy in his legs tonight and his influence in the game, especially as it wore on,” the Liverpool manager said. “It was an outstanding performance by Steven and an excellent goal. No matter how good a player is, there comes a time when the wheels are out and they’re ready to land. His wheels are not out yet; he’s got plenty of energy.
“He looked fresh in his running tonight. He drops back into midfield to make up the third man but obviously he’s got a natural instinct to get forward and join in. His combinations tonight with Raheem and Rickie were very good and he arrives in the space you want to when the ball is cut back for a great finish.”
It was just the storyline Liverpool needed after Mario Balotelli had sabotaged the build-up to the game with his latest brush with controversy. Rodgers, not surprisingly, was more interested in talking about the “character and resolve” Liverpool showed on the pitch here, rather than what his injured Italian striker had been getting up to on Instagram.
“Small steps, we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Rodgers said. “But you saw the spirit in the team tonight, we kept fighting to the end.”
For Leicester it was another chastening evening and one that ended with Nigel Pearson embroiled in an ugly row, in which expletives were exchanged, with a fan. The Leicester manager had left his seat in the stand to come down to pitch level for the final minutes when he reacted angrily to a comment made from a supporter.
“I had a spat with a fan towards the end. I don’t know what they are looking at at times,” Pearson said. “If they cannot see the players are having a proper go, maybe they need to stay home.”
Leicester have now gone nine games without a win, going back to that extraordinary 5-3 victory over Manchester United at home in September, and Pearson acknowledged that his players, for all their effort and application, are stuck in a “difficult cycle to break”.
The evening had got off to a promising start for Leicester. Running on to a pass from Riyad Mahrez that exposed the space that opened up on the Liverpool left, Jamie Vardy struck a shot that Simon Mignolet got a hand to but was unable to prevent from veering towards goal. Martin Skrtel was well positioned to clear off the line but Leonardo Ulloa retrieved the loose ball at the byline and turned to hit a shot that cannoned off the near upright, struck Mignolet on the back of the head and rolled into the net.
It has been that sort of season for the Liverpool goalkeeper, who was fortunate not to concede seconds earlier when a woeful pass intended for Skrtel ended up at Esteban Cambiasso’s feet. With the goal at his mercy the Argentinian stroked the ball wide.
Liverpool’s response to falling behind was swift. Morgan, tussling with Lambert, was unable to get any distance on his header from Lucas Leiva’s floated cross, and Adam Lallana was on to the ball in a flash, striking a left-footed half-volley that arrowed past Schmeichel.
Morgan, who endured a torrid evening, was also involved in Liverpool’s second goal, when he succeeded only in deflecting Sterling’s cross into the path of Gerrard, who was perfectly placed to stroke a first-time shot from 12 yards into the corner. Cambiasso saw his shot blocked by Vardy, his own player, as Leicester refused to surrender, but the game was up for the home team when Gerrard broke on the left and Schmeichel could only parry his deflected cross. Henderson, set up by Sterling, emphatically converted.
