Wednesday 11 February 2015 15:38, UK
Ian Rush hopes Mario Balotelli’s match-winner against Tottenham on Tuesday night will be the first of many goals the striker scores between now and the end of the season.
Balotelli came off the bench to score from close-range in the 83rd minute against Spurs, moving Liverpool a point behind the north London side and three points off third-placed Southampton.
It was the striker’s first Premier League goal for Liverpool since his £16m switch from AC Milan last summer and Rush hopes Balotelli can build on Tuesday’s performance.
“He’s been patient, Brendan has played him at the right times so I’m pleased for him to get the winner,” Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorer told Sky Sports News HQ.
“The crowd have always been behind him so I think we need just need to get behind him. Even after he scored the goal he was running around and closing down and he seemed to have an extra spring in his step.
“Hopefully that’s the start of many more to come from him.”
Despite notching his first league goal for the Reds, Balotelli did not celebrate his goal and was one of the first players to leave the pitch at the final whistle.
However, the former Manchester City striker, who has now scored a total of three goals in 20 matches since joining Liverpool from AC Milan for £16m in the summer, later posted a message on his Instagram account.
"Great game guys!!! This smile is ONLY for those that always Believe and support me. Thank you. Forza Liverpool. But now head down and keep working hard. Tonight is past."
Liverpool’s victory over Spurs came on the day that Sky won the rights to show 126 Premier League matches per season from 2016 – 2019.
“I thought it was a great football match and you have to give Tottenham credit as well because they tried to win the game,” Rush said. “A lot of teams come to Anfield and try and get a draw but Tottenham went for it.
“If we hadn’t won that game, I wouldn’t say that it’d be impossible, I’d say that it would be very difficult, to get into the top four.
“Now having won the game it’s all on. There are three or four teams in it. You expect Chelsea and Manchester City to be there but then you’ve got Arsenal, Tottenham, Man United, Liverpool who are all fighting for the other two places.
“I think it was a big result for Liverpool and they just have to keep it going now.”
Rush was speaking on a visit to St Vincent’s school for the visually impaired as part of the Standard Chartered 'Seeing is Believing' campaign to tackle avoidable blindness.
