Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was delighted to hit the winner against Aston Villa on Saturday to mark Rafa Benitez's first ever victory on Premiership opening day.

"I was getting flashbacks to the Middlesbrough game two years ago both from a personal and team point of view," Gerrard said in the Liverpool Echo.

"I had a load of chances to score, just like in that game, and the one worry when all the celebrations died down is we know we should have had the game won earlier.

"But the main thing is we did win and deserved it. The performance was, at times, very good.

"I know it's early but I hope it turns out to be one of the most important goals this season because all the lads have been saying through pre-season how much we wanted a good start.

"To have not won that game would have been devastating for us after the way we played, but now we feel we can build some momentum, and that's been shown to be so important in this league.

"You just can't afford to fall behind to the leaders like we have in the past."