Raheem Sterling gives Liverpool narrow 1-0 win over Burnley

Raheem Sterling provided a single moment of magic to give Liverpool a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Brendan Rodgers’ first win as Liverpool boss on Boxing Day couldn’t have come at a better time with his side being outplayed by Burnley for long periods.

But Sterling’s second-half goal gave the visitors a much needed confidence-boosting victory and they were able to play out the last 20 minutes with relative ease.

Burnley totally dominated Liverpool in the first half and didn’t allow the visitors a sniff of the ball but despite being well on top, couldn’t grab the goal their dominance deserved.

This defeat leaves Burnley in 19th place while Liverpool move out of the bottom half and into ninth, but still seven points off the Champions League places.

14’ – SO CLOSE: Ings picks the ball up off a Skrtel missed clearance. He drives in on goal and fires a shot low from the edge of the area. Despite beating Jones, he couldn’t beat the post.

21’ – DODGY KEEPER: Substitute goalkeeper Mignolet takes too long on the ball and his clearance is shut down by Ings but luckily the ball flew up in the air and not into the back of the net.

36’ – CHANCE: The ball drops to Arfield on the edge of the area. He strikes a low volley into the bottom corner but Lucas is there at the last moment to stick out a toe and divert the ball wide.

62’ – GOAL: The deadlock is broken as Coutinho flicks a ball over the top for Sterling to run onto. His pace was too much for Heaton as the goalie is beaten to the ball and Sterling can finish on his left foot into an empty net.

68’ – CHANCE: Trippier whips in a lovely ball to the far post where Keane is steaming in but his downward header goes into the side netting.

75’ – DISALLOWED GOAL: Lambert finishes low and hard into the bottom corner after a lovely reverse pass from Gerrard but the linesman has is flag up and it is still game on.

88’ – CHANCE: Trippier curls it into Boyd on the edge of the area. His first touch is good and the ball pops up nicely to be it but he drags his shot wide of the post.

This is the first time Liverpool have not won this fixture 4-0 in Premier League history.

Burnley have been beaten at home for the first time in four games having won and drawn two in that time.

Liverpool and Burnley had an identical league record in their last six games – won two, lost two and drawn two – until today

This is the first time Brendan Rodgers has won a match as Liverpool manager on Boxing Day.

Is Liverpool’s revival starting to gather pace? The result was right but if Brendan Rodgers is happy with that performance then there are still lots of issues to be resolved. Liverpool were outplayed for much of the match against a harder-working Burnley team. Against better quality, the Reds may have been out of it before they even had a sniff of goal.

Raheem Sterling (Liverpool): Given little to no service for much of the match the England international popped up when it mattered and applied a composed finish to make the difference. He always hassled and harried the Burnley defenders and put in a shift for his team who were on the back foot for long periods.

Burnley: Heaton 7, Trippier 8, Shackell 7, Keane 7, Mee 6, Arfield 6, Jones 7, Marney 7, Boyd 7, Barnes 6, Ings 7. Subs: Vokes 5, Wallace 5, Jutkiewicz 5.

Liverpool: Jones 5, Toure 5, Skrtel 7, Sakho 7, Lucas 7, Henderson 6, Gerrard 7, Markovic 5, Coutinho 6, Lallana 7, Sterling 9. Subs: Mignolet 5, Can 6, Lambert 6.