Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana praised the efforts of teammate Philippe Coutinho after the Brazilian was the matchwinner against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

The Reds took a huge leap towards the top-four as goals from Jordan Henderson and Coutinho saw Brendan Rodgers' side steal the three points despite Edin Dzeko's 25th minute leveller.

Seven days after a sublime strike from Coutinho helped Liverpool to a big win away at Southampton in the Premier League, the 22-year-old shone again as he produced a Man of the Match performance. 

"It's a massive win for us," Lallana said. "We've got the momentum. They're the champions but I thought we thoroughly deserved it today.

"They came back into the game but the lads have got fighting spirit and you know, the little magician (Coutinho) coming up again with another wonderful goal. With players like that, we can go far.

The Reds' front-three were in fine form on the afternoon, interchanging brilliantly as they caused the experienced heads of Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Eliaquim Mangala all kinds of problems, but Lallana insisted that the team as a whole deserve credit. 

"I think our system has been causing teams problems all year," said Lallana - speaking of Rodgers' inspired decision to switch to a blasé 3-4-3 formation in mid-December. "The manager said just to keep patient and find the space and with players like Jordan (Henderson) and Joe (Allen) sitting behind us, they were always going to find myself and Philippe and Raheem.

The Reds went into the break at 1-1 despite having more clear-cut chances and Lallana said that the fact they weren't leading at half-time only spurred them on going into the second-half.

"We thought we were unlucky not to go into half-time winning. So in the second-half we showed great character. A lot of the lads extra-time in mid-week and it was a long flight, but we've proved today that we can just keep going, keep fighting and keep believing."

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.