Sunday 7 December 2014 07:33, UK
Brendan Rodgers has defended Raheem Sterling, insisting he didn’t dive in the closing stages of Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Sunderland.
The England winger called for a penalty when he went down under a challenge from Wes Brown with seven minutes left of Saturday’s clash at Anfield, but replays suggested there was no real contact between the players.
Neil Swarbrick also waved away two penalty appeals by Sunderland striker Connor Wickham and also another Liverpool shout when the ball appeared to strike the hand of Jordi Gomez – but Rodgers said the referee got all of the decisions right and defended Sterling over accusations of diving..
"He is so bright around the box and makes defenders tackle him and want to get around him," said the Liverpool manager.
"When you watch it closely, Wes Brown has a dangle for the ball, misses it, and Raheem moves to the side. As he comes down with his foot, he probably just lands on Wes Brown.
"I didn’t think it was a dive, but I don’t think it was a penalty. I just think it was one of those coming-togethers in the box that sometimes happens and the referee made the right decision.
"I think all of the penalty appeals, if you look at them, I didn’t think they were penalties. The closest one to a penalty was the one by Jordi Gomez for handball.
"Obviously the deflection came up and the referee has probably said it hit him on the arm. I didn’t think it was a penalty."
Rodgers, who kept captain Steven Gerrard on the bench for the first 65 minutes, refused to criticise the performance of his players at the end of a week that has seen them record Premier League victories against Stoke and Leicester.
And ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Champions League clash with Basel, he is pleased with the attitude and spirit in his squad.
He said: “I thought the players gave everything, in particular in the second half when we really looked like we could make the breakthrough. It was combination of good defending by Sunderland – they have proven this year they are a hard team to beat.
“I thought in particular in the second half the speed of the game was very good, we pressed the game well and got into good areas. I can’t fault the players because they gave absolutely everything.
“We needed a wee bit of luck for the ball to drop to us, but it didn’t quite come. We kept a clean sheet, which was important. If you can’t win the game it’s important you don’t lose the game. We have seven points out of nine this week so that’s a good return.
“We kept going and that’s the nature of the group and their perseverance. The introduction of Stevie coming on gave everybody a lift and gave us the quality. I thought him and Raheem were outstanding today and could maybe be the catalyst for us.
“It was a solid performance but we couldn’t quite make the breakthrough and you have to give Sunderland some credit for that.”
