Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish: Andy Carroll was fantastic in 3-0 win at Wolves

The England international scored the first goal of the game in the Reds' victory at Molineux on Tuesday night, a year to the day since his 35 million pound move from Newcastle.

Kenny Dalglish praised Andy Carroll for his contribution to Liverpool’s 3-0 triumph over Wolves on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old striker, who arrived at Anfield on Jan. 31 last year for 35 million pounds from Newcastle United, scored the first goal of the game at Molineux before Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt wrapped the match up.
After the match, Dalglish revealed he was delighted with the entire team but singled out Carroll for his performance.
“We're pleased with everybody. It was a great finish for the first goal,” the Scot told reporters. “[It was] a great ball in from Charlie Adam and a great finish from Andy, who played really well. He's a Liverpool footballer and he will make a contribution for us many times.
“He flicked on one on Saturday for Dirk Kuyt to score against Manchester United and did the same for Craig Bellamy at Bolton. If [Carroll] gets a goal he gets a goal, but his contribution is fantastic.”
The victory was the third big result in seven days for the Merseyside club, after it sealed a League Cup final berth with a 3-2 aggregate win over Manchester City and secured a 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round victory against Manchester United.
“I thought it was a very professional, high quality performance from the players, a fantastic reaction to the previous two games," Dalglish said. “This game became the most important one because it was the next one. They applied themselves well and got what they deserved. I'm delighted with everyone who played."
Liverpool propelled itself past Newcastle and Arsenal into fifth in the Premier League with the victory, and Dalglish lavished additional praise on Welsh forward Bellamy for his role in the win.
“Craig was fantastic. The wee man certainly has been fantastic for us. I wish his numbers were the other way around," he said. “Instead of being 32, I wish he was 23. He doesn't do anything that surprises you. He prepares himself well for matches.
“He does things for himself within the framework of the team. You expect something to happen.”
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Manchester City's Roberto Mancini: We thought the game with Everton would be easier

The Eastlands outfit suffered defeat at Goodison Park and relinquished its outright lead at the top of the Premier League thanks to a solitary Darron Gibson goal.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini admits he underestimated Everton ahead of the clash which saw the Merseyside outfit prevail with a 1-0 victory.
The Italian’s side lost its outright lead over title rival Manchester United as a result of the loss, and only has a predominant goal-difference as a buffer between the two teams.
Darron Gibson scored the solitary goal of the game after a long-range effort swerved into the top corner of Joe Hart’s net, and the visitors failed to capitalize on their dominant possession.
Mancini conceded that he failed to prepare the team for the match and thought the game would be easier for his superstars.
“[It’s a] bad night for me,” he told reporters. “We didn’t deserve to lose, but I think there was some of my mistake in this game. We didn’t prepare very well for this game and we had a problem.
“It’s important for me to know what this mistake is. I didn’t prepare well because I thought maybe this game was easier and you know here [Goodison Park] is never easy, never.
“I didn’t prepare well with the training in the last three or four days.”
Asked if his players put in the same effort as the host, he said: “Yes, the players put everything on the pitch, but I made some mistakes to prepare them in last three days to prepare them for this game.
“[I thought it would be easier] because I thought we played well against Tottenham, we won the last three games in the Premier League and I thought Everton were without three or four important players.”
Regardless of the loss, the former Inter coach remained confident that his side have the quality and the time to stay ahead of the chasing pack.
He said: “It is not important. We are on the top, we have 15 games [left]. It is important that next Saturday we win, however, we have time.”
Mancini’s opposite number and the happier manager, David Moyes, expressed his pride for his players to come through a tough tie and get the result.
“I have [a lot of pride from the performance]. That’s as good at Everton as it has been for a long time. The players we were missing says a lot about the club and how they always seem to come and do it, the players have been great tonight," he told reporters.
“We might have played smoother football and played better, but a side we were playing against tonight I think the players deserve a lot of credit. Manchester City are a magnificent team, we had to defend for long periods, especially in the second-half.
“We limited them to not too many chances, but they’ve always got the threat with the likes of [David] Silva making a through pass, or with [Samir] Nasri with the ability he’s got. It was a great effort by the players and they sowed great desire to get a result.”
American Landon Donovan provided the game-winning assist, his fifth assist in seven Everton games since joining on loan this month.
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Pele: No one else in Brazil like Santos' Neymar

The Brazilian legend believes his compatriot deserves all the praise he receives but hopes to protect to starlet from media pressure.

Brazil legend Pele says he is happy with Santos after his former club opened a section of their museum to current star Neymar.

The 19-year-old was awarded with the Ferenc Puskas award for the best goal of 2011, earning the Brazil international the homage from his club, and Pele feels that Neymar has fully earned such recognition.

"Of course it is earned. At the moment, there is no players, at least here in Brazil, who can be compared to Neymar. Fortunately, he was raised here at Santos," Pele told Globoesporte.

The 71-year-old went on to speak about the growing media attention surrounding Neymar, stating that the youngster needs help in order to not crack under pressure.

"We must protect Neymar from all of this, so we don't get disappointed."

Neymar has been consistently linked with a move to Europe, but insists that he will stay at his current club until 2014, when his contract expires.

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