Steven Gerrard admits he was relieved after scoring late winner

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You could forgive Steven Gerrard for struggling to make sense of his emotions on Saturday, following the overwhelming nature of his late winner against Queens Park Rangers.

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The headed goal, which came just minutes after he missed a penalty, moves the Reds to within four points of Manchester United in the fourth and final Champions League place with three games remaining.

Having flicked home Philippe Coutinho’s corner, Gerrard raced away to celebrate in front of the Liverpool fans. Speaking after the game, the iconic midfielder admitted that there was both elation and relief in that moment.

He told our official website: “It was a poor penalty from myself and I am very disappointed with it.

“I changed my mind on my run up, which is something you can’t do when you’re a penalty taker. I take full responsibility for that, but it was nice to make up for it and help get the team three points. It’s very big for us.

“Maybe it was the game, the emotion, being desperate to score and get on the scoresheet…I don’t know. When you’re taking a penalty, you can’t change your mind.

“I was looking at Rob Green for as long as I could and I felt like he was going to go to his right, my left, which made me change my mind. I should have had the confidence that I could still score even if he went the right way.

“I am very disappointed with the penalty, but delighted with the header and everyone goes home happy because we’ve got three nice points.”

It was a wonderful moment for Gerrard, who was playing in his penultimate match at Anfield ahead of his summer move to LA Galaxy. The 184th goal of his Liverpool career could well prove to be his last and, if it does, what an appropriate way to go out – moving fifth on our all-time list of scorers.

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