Lallana on beating Arsenal: 'We knew we had to perform'
Adam Lallana hopes Liverpool's success against Arsenal goes 'a little way' to making amends for the disappointment of their defeat at Leicester City.
The Reds had a point to prove on Saturday evening and did just that, with goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum securing a 3-1 win and restoring Jürgen Klopp’s team to the top four.
Lallana admits inconsistency in 2017 has been frustrating for all concerned, but the No.20 believes enough time remains in the campaign to ensure it ends positively.
“Similar to the Tottenham game, we knew we had to perform,” he told BT Sport.
“We let a lot of people down on Monday night against Leicester, including ourselves. [This] goes a little way to putting it right. We’ve got a massive 11 games left this season and we feel we can still achieve something.
“We’re still young and still feel we’re learning. Of course we’re disappointed with how inconsistent we’ve been since Christmas. It’s [on] us to put that right. Keep going like how we did and we’re only going to go in the right direction.”
LFCTV GO: Extended highlights of the win at Anfield
Though Liverpool were firmly in the ascendancy by the interval at Anfield, the visitors returned from the break rejuvenated and quickly set about responding.
Simon Mignolet had already tipped an Olivier Giroud header onto the crossbar before Danny Welbeck reached a through ball from substitute Alexis Sanchez and lofted a finish into the net.
The Reds weathered considerable further pressure, which only relented when a stoppage-time counter attack was finished off by Wijnaldum.
“We went in at half-time 2-0 up and we were pleased with how we performed,” said Lallana. “But it showed in the second half that you can’t take anything for granted.
“They’ve got top players on the bench; Sanchez came on and influenced the game. So we had to dig in at 2-1 and [we’re] grateful that Gini got the goal in the last minute to see it off.”