Iago Aspas reflected on his first goal for Liverpool with tremendous pride after setting the Reds on the way to a 2-0 victory over Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
The Spaniard struck in the 55th minute at Anfield to open his goal-scoring account for the club — and might have had a second two minutes later, but for the post.
Liverpool had been largely frustrated by the Latics on a bitterly cold evening in L4 until Aspas produced a clinical piece of skill to break the deadlock.
Neat play from Brendan Rodgers‘ team allowed Steven Gerrard to drive a low ball out to Raheem Sterling, who jinked toward the byline before clipping a weighted pass into the center.
Aspas, who fired four times in preseason, was perfectly positioned to maneuver his body and steer the ball home on the half-volley for his first competitive strike.
The home team went on to seal the victory when Sterling’s powerful but wayward strike ricocheted off the legs of James Tarkowski and into the net behind to seal the win.
“I played the last game on the right wing, and today I played as a striker, which is my position,” Aspas told Liverpoolfc.com. “It’s wonderful for me to score my first goal here. It’s difficult when you don’t play all the games, but I’m very happy to have scored.”
Aspas arrived at Anfield in June 2013 after completing a switch from his boyhood club Celta Vigo, where he netted 12 times in 34 games during his final season in Spain.
Aspas, delighted with his first strike, took to Twitter following the final whistle to send the following message to Reds fans.
[tweet https://twitter.com/aspas10/statuses/419901764683702272 align=’center’]
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Photo via LiverpoolFC.com
