Sterling proves worth to ease pressure on Rodgers

Bournemouth 1 Liverpool 3

Confronted by the testing challenge of overcoming Championship leaders Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals, the Liverpool manager was spared yet more scrutiny about his position thanks largely to the finishing of Raheem Sterling.

Sterling struck twice, ending a 21-game drought, either side of Lazar Markovic’s first goal for the club and while Liverpool’s defensive problems were exposed in the final 33 minutes after Dan Gosling got one back for the home side, this was precisely the commanding victory Rodgers needed to divert attention away from the difficulties that have haunted the manager this season.

Out of the Premier League title race and out of the Champions League, the semi-finals of the secondary cup competition is a poor consolation. But after a testing five months, Rodgers is grateful for any signs of progress.

Liverpool will face Chelsea in the semi-final and Rodgers revelled after what he described as a “brilliant performance”.

He said: “It didn’t matter who we got in the draw, it was just important to get there — to win this competition you have to win games against big sides.

“I thought it was a brilliant performance from us tonight, it was always going to be a difficult job, but we controlled the game and pressed at the right times and created chances. We thoroughly deserved it.”

Sterling’s future has become the latest emblem of the club’s catastrophic season with the young England forward adding to the sense of crisis by refusing to accept the offer of a new contract worth around £70,000 (€88,000) per week.

“Raheem Sterling has got some stick recently which I find extraordinary,” Rodgers said. “He is a kid of 19 and 20 he has been outstanding for us. He may not have scored the goals that some people expect, but I expect him to score goals and provide assists over the course of the season.”

Rodgers’ side visited Bournemouth last January in the FA Cup, securing a comfortable 2-0 victory as the team began to gel and set off on the charge towards the top of the table that would end so agonisingly for the club, and in particular for Steven Gerrard, the captain.

The hangover from Liverpool’s narrow failure to win a first title in 24 years has proved more durable than anyone might have imagined.

The team’s stock has fallen so low that the visitors were regarded by many as second favourites to reach the last four and any doubts that attention was focused on Rodgers — or more accurately, the manager’s future — were erased by sight of a mob of photographers crowded in front of the Reds’ dug-out before kick-off.

Eddie Howe’s decision to make six changes from the side that beat Cardiff 5-3 last Saturday ultimately helped Rodgers’ cause, no matter how keen the Bournemouth manager was to insist the quality of his stand-ins was such the team would not be weakened.

Had Callum Wilson showed more composure in the fourth minute, however, the prospect of seeing his side trailing to a second-string Championship line-up would only have added to Rodgers’ embarrassment.

Wilson collected a knock-down from Yann Kermorgant, moved past Martin Skrtel and was presented with a clear sight of Brad Jones’s goal, only to place his shot wide when he really should have scored.

Rodgers opted for a back three and the extra bodies in midfield allowed Liverpool to move the ball around comfortably, drawing Bournemouth’s sting before delivering the incisive blow that allowed them to take control of the game.

There were 52 passes in the build-up to Sterling’s 20th minute opening goal, the most decisive of which was Markovic’s clip towards the far post where Jordan Henderson headed back towards Sterling to finish with his head from close range.

Seven minutes later Markovic added a second after a similarly well-worked move had presented Philippe Coutinho with a shooting opportunity that was deflected away by keeper Artur Boruc towards the Serb who struck right-footed from the edge of the penalty area.

That should have signalled the end of the tie as a contest but this Liverpool side specialises in gifting the opposition a route back into game and Bournemouth should have halved the deficit a minute later when Kermorgant shot over unchallenged from just 10 yards out.

Sterling added a third six minutes after the restart with an explosive run capped by a composed finish and that, seemingly, was that.

Not so. Gosling pulled one back with a powerful shot that squirmed under Jones’ body in the 57th minute to trigger familiar uncertainty in the visitors defence that would have been more profound had the midfielder not been denied by the woodwork with 20 minutes remaining.

BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-2): Boruc 7; Francis 8, Elphick 5, Cargill 6, Smith 7; Ritchie 7, Gosling 8, O’Kane 6 (Pitman 81,6) Stanislas 5 (Fraser 53,6); Wilson 6, Kermorgant 4 (Arter 53,6).

LIVERPOOL (3-4-3): B Jones 5; Toure 6, Skrtel 6, Lovren 6 (Sakho 46,6); Henderson 7, Gerrard 7 (Borini 90, 6), Lucas 7, Markovic 7; Lallana 8, Sterling 9, Coutinho 7 (Can 74, 6).

Referee: Mark Clattenburg 7.