Daniel Sturridge was back firing on Merseyside after netting his 100th professional goal in a comfortable 3-0 over David Wagner’s Huddersfield at Anfield on Saturday.
The Englishman lifted the clouds that had been looming over Anfield in recent weeks after he lifted a cute effort over Lössl to capitalize on a misplaced header from Terrier’s skipper Tommy Smith to give the Reds the lead with a clinical finish that would effectively open the floodgates after a disappointing first half that included a Mohamed Salah penalty miss.
Roberto Firmino headed in from a rare set-piece goal to double Liverpool’s advantage before Gini Wijnaldum thundered in a third off the underside of the crossbar to send Wagner and his side back to Yorkshire empty-handed on a day the Reds simply had to win.
Liverpool lift “building pressure” from the fans
Speaking after the game Sturridge said he was delighted with the response shown by his teammates after Tottenham Hotspur's put the Reds to the sword at Wembley the previous Sunday in what was a difficult week for Jürgen Klopp and his side.
He explained how Huddersfield “were very defensive” in the first half frustrating Liverpool to very few chances noting: "They had a bank of a four and a five and the big man up front was trying to hold it up as best he could and win flick-ons”.
Leaving the pitch in the first half it became obvious that the Anfield faithful expected more from their players and Sturridge admitted he could “feel the pressure from the fans” going into the tunnel at half time.
The nervous atmosphere spread through Anfield and it took Sturridge's well-dinked finish to open the slaughter for Liverpool and get there first win at Anfield since August. Sturridge went on to say “we showed what we could do, we showed the character, we went out there and put our best performance in and performed as we usually would do.”
Sturridge joins Hundred club after his impressive chipped finish
Liverpool’s 3-0 against the Terriers sees them remain unbeaten at Anfield having only conceded 1 in five home games this season but the Reds still remain a disappointing 12 points off leaders Manchester City who are flying high at the top of the Premier League.
However, Daniel Sturridge’s second-half strike meant he finally secured his 100th goal of his club career to put him in elite company joining the likes of Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen in the one hundred club.
But the No 15 was unaware of his milestone insisting he had no idea his strike had brought up such a significant milestone at the time and the 28-year-old is already looking at the next century of goals to add to his impressive tally.
He went on to say: "I'm grateful to God for blessing me and allowing me to reach that amount of goals.
"Hopefully there will be a lot more to come - there could've been a lot more but you can never look at the past, you look to the future and say hopefully I'll be able to score another 100 before my career is over."
Sturridge also found himself in the starting eleven for only the fourth time this season and the former Chelsea striker admits he would like to see more game time: "It's [about] getting that rhythm, that flow. For myself, I feel like I'm best when I'm like that playing regularly”.
The Englishman is trying to find the dazzling form that almost led Liverpool to Premier League glory during the 2013-14 season but Sturridge understands he has to be patient with his manager in order to find the form that almost took the league by storm: "When I go onto the pitch it's important for me to show what I can do.
"But the manager picks the team and I'll never cause any issues or problems in the camp because he's the boss, I have a lot of respect for him and for his decisions”.
Sturridge and his side will turn their attention to Wednesday night as Champion’s League returns to Anfield with the Reds looking to repeat their Slovenian antics after their impressive 7-0 win over Maribor with another win taking them closer to that all-important last 16 qualification.