London : Steven Gerrard proved why he has been Liverpool’s captain since 2003 as he scored a brace to help his childhood club surge to a third-round victory in the FA Cup against AFC Wimbledon.
Gerrard demonstrated the quality and leadership the club is going to miss when the midfielder leaves Liverpool as he guided his team to victory in his first game since announcing that he would depart in the summer to play in the United States.
Gerrard, who will celebrate his 35th birthday on FA Cup final day on 30 May, put Liverpool in lead in the 12th minute as he headed in an opener, the BBC reported.
English striker Adebayo Akinfenwa’s equaliser before half-time revived memories of the original Wimbledon’s FA Cup final win against Liverpool at Wembley in 1988.
However, Gerrard came to Liverpool’s rescue once again, as he has done a lot of times, to restore order with a superb trademark free-kick just after the hour.
The former England captain’s prowess helped to steady Liverpool, whose defence had looked horribly vulnerable under pressure from Neal Ardley’s side, who are 12th in League Two.
The midfielder proved himself once again to be the player who can be relied upon to help Liverpool in their moments of adversity as he took his tally to 182 goals in 696 appearances for the club.
Gerrard was denied a hattrick by a stoppage-time goalline clearance from Callum Kennedy as Liverpool secured a home tie against Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round.
AFC Wimbledon manager Ardley said that in the first 25 minutes his side looked nervous, but claimed that when his men grew in the game and in confidence they caused Liverpool problems.
Ardley also said that in the first half, his side had all of the best chances, but Liverpool have some good players on the counter-attack and in the last 20 minutes his squad ran out of legs and the Reds had a lot of chances.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers admitted that it was a very tough game and congratulated Wimbledon for making it very difficult. He claimed that his side started well, controlling the game, but added that then they lost their shape and presented Wimbledon chances by giving the ball away.
Rodgers added that they adapted at half-time but said that they still had to defend all the way through to the end.
Rodgers admitted that he has got to give a lot of testament to his players, adding that they showed a lot of character. He claimed that in the second half, they should have had two or three more goals.
