The Reds boss heaped praise on his captain for reaching a century of top-flight strikes but was also quick to mention the midfielder’s overall contribution, personality and talent
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers hailed captain Steven Gerrard after the midfielder scored his 100th Premier League goal in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle United.
The 33-year-old equalised from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute at St James’ Park to cancel out Yohan Cabaye’s superb long-range opener.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa had been shown a red card for hauling down Luis Suarez and Gerrard stepped up confidently to fire into the bottom corner, with Rodgers quick to praise his overall contribution.
“It’s a huge pleasure to work with him and know him as a person,” Rodgers said in his post-match press conference.
“He gets a lot of praise for his captaincy but what people sometimes forget is that he’s a world-class player. At 33, he’s so professional and you see some of his quality today.
“He’s always right on the money, a wonderful man and a great player.”
Newcastle went on to regain the lead just before the hour mark through substitute Paul Dummett, who headed home from Cabaye’s floated free kick, before Daniel Sturridge equalised.
“We played very well,” Rodgers told BT Sport. “It’s never easy when you play against 10 men but I thought some of our play was outstanding.
“Credit to Newcastle, once they got the second goal they sat in and made it very difficult for us but some of our play was outstanding and the combinations in our game were very good.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew admitted he was “immensely proud” of his ten-man side for managing to claim a draw.
He told reporters: “I was disappointed that we didn’t have 11 men for the 90 minutes because that first period was a real great advertisement for the Premier League.
“Liverpool are a great side and we matched them. I didn’t think there was a lot in it and we got the first goal, which made for a really interesting game.
“But unfortunately, we had a bad break in the game because Cheick [Tiote] was down injured and while he was recovering in the box, he kept Suarez onside and Mapou [Yanga-Mbiwa] got sent off.
“We then had to show another side to our game, resilience and character. It got questioned last season but we showed today we have that in the group and we can fight when we need to.
“I’m immensely proud of the whole day, our fans were brilliant. It was a great day for football.”