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Cape Town - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admits his side were "very, very lucky" to have taken all three points against QPR following a pulsating end to Sunday's Loftus Road encounter.
The Reds struggled to find their stride in the opening exchanges this weekend, and the R's were unfortunate not to find an early opener after twice hitting the woodwork.
The Merseysiders were eventually gifted the lead after Richard Dunne put the ball into the back of his own net on 67 minutes, only for Eduardo Vargas to level matters three minutes from time. That, thought, only served to further ignite the match, which saw Philippe Coutinho put Liverpool back in front three minutes later before Vargas again tied things up.
However, the hosts were eventually denied a vital point as Steven Caulker was also guilty of scoring a 95th-minute own-goal to hand Rodgers' men a 3-2 win.
“They (QPR) certainly didn’t deserve to lose, QPR. We were very, very lucky to get the win," Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“We showed tremendous character and were a little bit better in the second half, but QPR definitely deserved something.”
He added: “We put players on to play a game, which is a technical game. The first half, we didn’t pass the ball, we had no rhythm in our game, movement was too slow, no speed in the game.
“Coutinho coming on gives us that technical lift in the game and we then started to create that bit more.
“I thought Raheem Sterling was outstanding today in his running and desire. It was really quick thinking for the first goal and he broke away on the other one.
“Overall we were fortunate, but it’s a long season and you’re going to not play well in games. You hope to get points and today we got three points, but QPR were unfortunate.”
The Reds struggled to find their stride in the opening exchanges this weekend, and the R's were unfortunate not to find an early opener after twice hitting the woodwork.
The Merseysiders were eventually gifted the lead after Richard Dunne put the ball into the back of his own net on 67 minutes, only for Eduardo Vargas to level matters three minutes from time. That, thought, only served to further ignite the match, which saw Philippe Coutinho put Liverpool back in front three minutes later before Vargas again tied things up.
However, the hosts were eventually denied a vital point as Steven Caulker was also guilty of scoring a 95th-minute own-goal to hand Rodgers' men a 3-2 win.
“They (QPR) certainly didn’t deserve to lose, QPR. We were very, very lucky to get the win," Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“We showed tremendous character and were a little bit better in the second half, but QPR definitely deserved something.”
He added: “We put players on to play a game, which is a technical game. The first half, we didn’t pass the ball, we had no rhythm in our game, movement was too slow, no speed in the game.
“Coutinho coming on gives us that technical lift in the game and we then started to create that bit more.
“I thought Raheem Sterling was outstanding today in his running and desire. It was really quick thinking for the first goal and he broke away on the other one.
“Overall we were fortunate, but it’s a long season and you’re going to not play well in games. You hope to get points and today we got three points, but QPR were unfortunate.”
