Hodgson Hails Gerrard The Legend After Napoli Win

Roy Hodgson has paid tribute to Steven Gerrard's abilities after his show-stopping performance in Liverpool's Europa League win over Napoli. A memorable hat trick helped the Reds move to within a point of qualification for the knock out stages of the competition after the captain was introduced at the start of the second half. And Hodgson was delighted with the impact of Gerrard, who replaced Milan Jovanovic after the interval, for motivating not only his team mates but also the Anfield faithful, who had new owner John W Henry within their ranks as he took in his first game. He said: "He was outstanding. I think in the first half we hadn't played that badly. We were a bit unlucky to be a goal down to an error, which was punished, but certainly in the second half, his entry was a catalyst. "It galvanised the crowd and the team, and I thought that the way he scored the first goal really epitomises the energy and the spirit the team showed in the second half. I'm just delighted that we have a reward for it, but certainly we owe a big debt of gratitude to him." "I haven't seen him play every game for Liverpool over the last two years, but I've been more than happy for everything he's done for the team during my time at the club and I thought tonight was a real leader's performance. "That goal that got us the equaliser wasn't a pretty goal. But that was a captain's goal. That was the goal of a guy who wanted to get his team back in the game and was determined, even at the risk of an injury, to get the ball into the net. "That is certainly appreciated by me and my staff, that's for sure, but it's also appreciated by the incredible crowd we had here tonight because they were pretty good up to that goal. "After it, the Italians might as well not have been here in terms of their support because we drowned them out."