Lallana: I didn’t mean it, but we deserved it!
Adam Lallana acknowledged there was perhaps a touch of good fortune about his assist for Christian Benteke’s match-winning strike at Sunderland, but insisted Liverpool were worthy recipients of the three points.
With just over 20 seconds of the second half elapsed, the No.20 got a touch to Nathaniel Clyne’s pass to divert it into the box.
Benteke was waiting to pounce and made no mistake as he drove beyond Vito Mannone to secure a 1-0 victory for the Reds at the Stadium of Light.
“I don’t think I meant it to go directly into Christian’s path, but sometimes you need the rub of the green, especially when you come to a tough place like this as they’re scrapping for every point,” Lallana admitted.
“It could have been two or three in the end – on the counter we had a couple of chances – but it’s a great result for us and hopefully we can push on and get another win on Saturday.
“The manager has tried to drum it into us that sometimes we’ve got to fight a bit more, play teams at their own game and coming here is difficult, so we’re delighted to get three points.”
The result moves Liverpool up to seventh in the Barclays Premier League table, just five points off fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur going into the New Year.
“The league this year is strange, as everyone has been talking about,” Lallana added. “I think it’s just important we take it a game at a time and keep building.
“We’ve got players coming back to fitness hopefully soon, with all the games we’ve got we’re going to need the squad.”