Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Happy Carroll Anniversary


Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish hailed Andy Carroll after the striker scored his first goal since October on Tuesday night.

Goals from Carroll - on his first anniversary since his Anfield move - Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt earned Liverpool a straightforward 3-0 win at Molineux which moved them above Arsenal into fifth and within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea.

It made it a perfect seven days for Dalglish and his team following last week's League Cup semi-final triumph over Manchester City and weekend FA Cup success over Manchester United.

“We're pleased with everybody. It was a great finish for the first goal,” the Scot said. “[It was] a great ball in from Charlie Adam and a great finish from Andy, who played really well.

“He's a Liverpool footballer and he will make a contribution for us many times.

Until Tuesday night, Liverpool's cup form had been in contrast with their league form, however, with the Reds having picked up just one point from their previous three top-flight matches - and the recent defeat to Bolton prompting the Scot to take the unusual step of criticising his players.

There were no such complaints from Dalglish on this occasion, though.

"I thought it was a very professional, high quality performance from the players. A fantastic reaction to the previous two games," he said.

"This game became the most important one because it was the next one. They applied themselves well and got what they deserved."