Benitez praises Liverpool character
Rafael Benitez was happy with his side's performance
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Saturday, 11, Aug 2007 10:36
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez paid tribute to his side's fighting spirit after they scored a late winner to claim a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa today.
Villa looked to have earned themselves a point after Gareth Barry equalised from the penalty spot with five minutes left of normal time. But Captain Steven Gerrard scored a brilliant free-kick to grab his side all the points.
"We deserved to win the game and it was a special goal from Gerrard," said Benitez.
"We showed great character after Villa were given a penalty and we kept going forward and got the goal. It was important for us to win the first game.
"I know we created a lot of chances but you have to say the Villa goalkeeper was really good and he was the man of the match."
Benitez also paid tribute to his new frontline of Dirk Kuyt and £21 million man Fernando Torres.
He said: "I thought Torres did well and worked hard and his understanding with Kuyt was really good."
Liverpool face Toulouse in the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday and then they haven a mouth-watering Premiership encounter with Chelsea at Anfield next Sunday.