Replacing Christian Benteke, who had a tight hamstring, at half-time, Liverpool striker Danny Ings took less than three-minutes to break the deadlock yesterday against Norwich City, but Canaries captain Russell Martin pulled one back just after the hour mark to the leave the Reds without a win since the middle of August.
“On a personal note it was good to get off the mark but at the same time it is disappointing because I thought we should have got three points,” explained the 23-year old. “It is great to get off the mark anywhere but even better in front of the Kop. I had another chance where I tried going round the keeper, perhaps I should have poked it in,” he mused, obviously disappointed not to double up. “You would have thought that we would close the game out, but games like this happen, you create loads of chances but they won’t go in. But the positive thing today is that we created lots of chances – more than we have done.”
While there was a noticeable improvement in Liverpool’s overall game, the Reds remain rooted in the wrong half of the table and will have to wait until Aston Villa visit Anfield next weekend before they can make another go at climbing out of the mid-table quagmire. Although Benteke’s withdrawal from the proceedings sounds to be more cautionary than anything else, Ings finding the net will not only give boss Brendan Rodgers confidence that the former Burnley FC man can contribute a little bit more, but it’ll be food for thought the next time he’s planning out his starting eleven.
“Danny Ings, coming on, was outstanding, his pressing and ability to run in behind was there to see,” said the Northern Irishman in his post-match interview. “Danny was excellent and gave us a different dynamic in the game. He was brilliant,” he continued, before adding, “You saw what it meant to him and you saw how the supporters responded to him. He showed great enthusiasm and it was an excellent finish – his touch and finish off his left side was very good.”
