Rabotnicki Skopje 0-2 Liverpool
New Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson was delighted with the performance of his under strength Liverpool side who earned a 2-0 away victory over Macedonian side Rabotnicki in the third round qualifying stage of the Europa League last night.
Hodgson fielded an inexperienced starting eleven, featuring players such as Diego Cavalieri, Martin Kelly, Jay Spearing and David Amoo, while resting some of his more established stars such as Pepe Reina, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Dirk Kuyt, who were given further time off to recover from their exertions at the World Cup in South Africa.
Hodgson’s new look team acquitted themselves well, however and negotiated the tie with the minimum of fuss thanks to a goal in each half from David Ngog and Hodgson was quick to praise the contribution of his inexperienced players, reserving special praise for the two-goal French striker.
“I think it was a landmark occasion for many players,†Hodgson said.
“There were a lot of players there who have played very few games in the first team and there were other players who were only a couple of weeks back off holiday.
“I think to step out and play a tie of this nature it asked a lot of them but they all stepped up and answered any questions the opposition could pose.
“Ngog has done well in all of the three games he has played for me. He crowned his good performance with two goals and that’s what strikers need to do.
