STURRIDGE: FAITH AND HEELING
Posted on: Sun 11 Sep 2011
Saturday saw his first game and his first goal of the season and as he was achieving success, Daniel Sturridge felt the backing of his manager, of his family and of the Chelsea fans.
The 22-year-old said prior to the match that he felt ready to give his best should Andre Villas-Boas chose to involve him at Sunderland following a three-game suspension, and he was placed in the starting line up on the right of a front-three attack.
He rewarded that selection decision with one of the goals of the season so far, a backheeled finish on the run, before being replaced by Florent Malouda just past the hour.
'The competition for places is very tough in the squad and the manager has shown huge faith in me to put me in the team after a three-game ban, because I have just been training for the last five weeks, including the international period,' acknowledged Sturridge after the game.
'It was a huge result for the boys to come away from Sunderland with the three points. It is a great stadium and their fans sing very loud but our fans were excellent and it was a big result for the team. Now we need to keep winning and put pressure on the Manchester clubs.'
Sturridge paid tribute to debutant Raul Meireles who played the pass behind Sunderland defender Wes Brown to set the striker away for his goal, the second in the game and scored shortly after half-time.
'It was a great ball from Raul Meireles, great vision from him, and I got across the centre-half and saw the keeper coming out, so I just went for a little cheeky one, the only way I could have scored was to do that, and it paid off. I have done it in training a few times but training is completely different to a game and for it to happen in a game is special for me.
'I was hoping that he [Brown] wouldn't get it before it crossed the line but I was thinking, "Oh God, he has got it," and it was a huge moment to see it hit the net because I thought he was going to clear it, so I am very happy.'
Sturridge's goal celebration included a run and point towards specific members of the crowd.
'My brother, my uncle, my cousin and his wife travelled to the game and for them to travel all this way and show their support was a great moment, as well as the huge support we had from the Chelsea fans,' he explained.
Posle vrlo bitne pobede protiv Sanderlenda slece 2 teska meca,prvo mec u LS protiv Balakovog Leverkuzena a onda i prvi derbi za Plavce i gostovanje razgoropadjenom Junajtedu.
