Mignolet pleased with dream debut

Simon Mignolet was delighted with the penalty save and clean sheet that added up to a dream Liverpool debut as the Reds began their Barclays Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win against Stoke.

The hosts had dominated throughout but had only Daniel Sturridge’s goal to show for their efforts when Daniel Agger handled former Reds midfielder Charlie Adam’s free-kick three minutes from time.

Jonathan Walters fired low to Mignolet’s right but the Belgium international reached that and substitute Kenwyne Jones’ follow-up to get his Liverpool career off to the best possible start following a £9m move from Sunderland.

Mignolet told BT Sports 1: “You always pick the corner to go to and today I picked the right one.

“I kept a clean sheet which is the important thing. Today it worked, I am really pleased with it.

“We didn’t manage to get a second goal but we deserved to win.”

Opposite number Asmir Begovic underlined his quality today producing a series of saves to thwart a dominant Liverpool.

He was given the man-of-the-match award although he admitted admitted that mattered little, given the result.

The Bosnia international told BT Sport 1: “It doesn’t mean a lot when you can’t get a result.

“We put in a decent performance and should have got something out of the game.

“The spirit was there and we kept digging in and we caused a lot of problems in the end.

“We are being positive to take stuff out of the game and kick on next week.”

Mark Hughes replaced Tony Pulis as manager in the summer and Begovic said: “It’s fantastic, from day one the lads have really enjoyed it and we’ve been positive about the work.

“We’ll get better as the season goes on.”

Of Mignolet, he said: “That was a fantastic save, Simon is a top-quality keeper and I am sure he will do well for Liverpool.”