Raheem Sterling showed exactly why he is considered one of Liverpool's and England's brightest young stars after the 17-year-old's brilliantly taken strike gave the Reds a 1-0 victory over Reading in their English Premier League game.
Teammate Glen Johnson believes there is much more to come from the talented teenager. "We were delighted for Raheem to score his first goal and he deserved it," Johnson said. "He just takes everything in his stride and is always willing to learn.
"He has got fantastic attributes and I'm pretty sure and confident that this won't be his last goal in the Premier League that's for sure.
"He is a confident lad every day in training and a good lad as well. He is learning quickly."
The 1-0 victory was Liverpool's first league win at Anfield this season, and Johnson admitted the three points were absolutely crucial for his side's confidence. "I thought the lads started really well and we had to dig in at times as Reading put us under the cosh at certain times during the game, but overall I thought we thoroughly deserved the three points," he said.
"The most important thing is we are creating the chances and on another day we could have scored four or five, but if you win 1-0 every week you would be fairly happy.
"We have got our first home win and hopefully we can push on now and keep driving forward."
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed the goal was the result of some hard work in the training ground. Sterling, who with the goal became the second youngest scorer for Liverpool after Michael Owen, shifted from the wings to a central striking area, making a perfectly timed run for Luis Suarez to play a through ball.
"It's a part of the game we've been working on," Rodgers said. "The players on the outside, the No.7 and No.11, we're trying to get them in the positions so they can make those runs.
"He's got good pace, Raheem, so once he's on the inside he can break the line of the back four. We've been doing a lot of work on that on the training field but all the credit goes to him because he's got to identify the moment to go in.
"It was a wonderful finish because he was going away from the goal, and he's got a quick defender tracking him.
"He's a terrific talent and he's got a good head on young shoulders."
