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Liverpool beat Spurs on Tuesday in a quality end-to-end match that saw Mario Balotelli score a late winner against Tottenham for the men in red, keeping the team on pace to earn seven out of nine points from Everton, Spurs, and Southampton. Taking a page out of the Football Manager handbook, Brendan Rodgers sent Colin Pascoe to take the post-match presser, in which assistant manager spoke highly of the Italian's efforts that evening.
"Mario works hard in training," the eternal shorts fancier said. "Recently he's been ill, and he's had some knocks on his foot where he couldn't get his boot on. It's testament to himself that he kept on going and got his rewards tonight with the winning goal. Is he happy? He's immensely happy. You get the winner at Anfield, you're happy! Mario knew he would have a part to play tonight, and he certainly did."
Questions were asked of Balotelli after he once again — and quite predictably — did not celebrate his match winning goal. The media kerfuffle his lack of antics caused distracted from the real task at hand, namely that Liverpool had secured all three points and had kept themselves in the conversation regarding Champions League spots for at least one more match.
"The main thing for us is to get into the top four," Pascoe continued. "We needed to win to edge closer to the top. Our next game is at Southampton, and we want exactly the same again; three points. The top four is what we're looking at. But we're obviously still in the FA Cup and the Europa League, so the goals are there for us."
Liverpool make their visit to Southampton in two weeks' time, but not before facing Crystal Palace in the League Cup and the first leg of their Europa League match up against Besiktas. Every good result spawns the usual talk of kicking off a good run, and the win over Spurs is no different: if Liverpool can continue on in the same manner in their remaining cup competitions, they'll be one step closer to silverware.
