A Liverpool legend renowned for a collection of cracking goals celebrates his birthday today, as Steven Gerrard prepares to blow out 45 candles on his cake.
When one thinks of the reigning Premier League champions, the erstwhile England midfielder is always one of the first names that pops to mind, thanks to his loyalty, longevity and astounding success on the red half of Merseyside.
While Gerrard was not quite a one-club man - having spent the final days of his career with MLS giants Los Angeles Galaxy - there is no questioning the 45-year-old's standing among the all-time Liverpool greats, whom he most notably achieved European stardom with.
Champions League glory in 2005 marked the pinnacle of Gerrard's Liverpool career, during which he also fashioned 186 goals and 155 assists in a whopping 710 matches for the Premier League titans in all tournaments.
To celebrate Gerrard's 45th birthday, we whittle down 186 to 10, as Sports Mole counts down the midfielder's best goals for Liverpool.
10. Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool (Premier League | August 11, 2007)
With Liverpool seemingly on course for victory at Villa Park, one-time club target Gareth Barry levelled the scores in the 85th minute to seemingly rescue a point for the hosts.
However, not for the first or last time in his career, Gerrard came up with the goods late on to clinch all three points for his side in style.
9. Marseille 1-2 Liverpool (Champions League group stage | September 16, 2008)
Having reached the final in two of the previous four seasons, Liverpool went into the 2008-09 Champions League campaign with their pedigree as one of the big boys of European football at least temporarily restored.
They needed inspiration from their skipper to get off to a winning start, however, with Gerrard curling a beauty into the top corner to level things up against Marseille in their opening match.
Gerrard went on to score the winner from the spot - his 99th goal for the club in all competitions.
8. AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (Champions League final | May 25, 2005)
There will be more eye-catching goals on this list, but perhaps none more important.
The story has been recounted thousands of times about how Liverpool's fans gave the side belief when trailing the mighty AC Milan by three goals in the Champions League final in Istanbul.
Gerrard carried that inspiration onto the field and sparked the most sensational comeback in the competition's history with his side's opening goal. The rest is history.
7. Everton 1-3 Liverpool (Premier League | September 15, 2001)
No player has scored more goals in Merseyside derbies during the Premier League era than Gerrard and, while there are a number of contenders, the best of the lot came back in 2001.
Kevin Campbell had given the Toffees an early lead at Goodison Park, but Gerrard's equaliser helped Liverpool recover to claim a 3-1 victory over their local rivals.
6. Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United (Premier League | March 31, 2001)
Nothing quite endears a player to Liverpool fans like a goal against Manchester United, particularly when that strike is as special as this one.
Gerrard already had a reputation for scoring long-range crackers when he lined up a 16th-minute effort at Anfield, leaving Fabien Barthez with no chance in the opposing goal as he lashed it into the top corner.
Robbie Fowler also got on the scoresheet as Liverpool recorded a league double over their bitter rivals.
5. Liverpool 2-1 Southampton (Premier League | January 1, 2001)
Gerrard provided a New Year's Day treat for those inside Anfield on January 1, 2001.
Despite a terrible pitch, the young midfielder picked the ball up 35 yards from goal and hammered a magnificent strike past a helpless Paul Jones, arrowing it in off the underside of the crossbar.
4. Newcastle United 0-3 Liverpool (Premier League | November 24, 2007)
Gerrard had endured a difficult week in the build-up to Liverpool's visit to St James' Park.
The star midfielder's role in England's failure to reach Euro 2008 led to him become the villain of the piece for Newcastle fans, who booed his every touch.
However, Gerrard responded in style, opening the scoring with an unstoppable free kick into the top corner that Shay Given could not get near. Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel capped off a 3-0 win for the visitors.
3. Liverpool 1-1 Middlesbrough (Premier League | April 30, 2005)
This was by no means Gerrard's most important strike, but with the Champions League final against AC Milan on the horizon, it is certainly one of his best.
The magnificent volley against Middlesbrough was ultimately only worth a point in a season that ultimately saw Liverpool finish fifth in the table, below Merseyside rivals Everton and a whopping 37 points behind Jose Mourinho's title-winning Chelsea side.
The 'Miracle of Istanbul' less than a month later helped alleviate that pain, while this goal against Middlesbrough also lives long in the memory.
2. Liverpool 3-1 Olympiacos (Champions League group stage | December 8, 2004)
This will forever be known as the goal that made Istanbul possible. Its significance was increased by what happened after, but even at the time there was a sense that this was something special.
In a match that required Liverpool to win by two goals to progress from the group stages of the Champions League, Brazilian legend Rivaldo gave the visiting Greek side the lead at Anfield.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor pulled goals back for Liverpool, but it was up to Gerrard to come to the rescue again, lashing home Mellor's knockdown to send Anfield into raptures. Andy Gray helped to immortalise the moment with some memorable commentary.
1. Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (FA Cup final | May 13, 2006)
Is there a goal that better sums up Gerrard's uncanny knack of saving Liverpool? The Reds were heavy favourites going into this FA Cup final against West Ham United, but the Hammers took a two-goal lead early on courtesy of a Jamie Carragher own goal and Dean Ashton strike.
Djibril Cisse pulled one back for the Reds, while Gerrard fired home a second that was impressive in its own right to level the scores. West Ham regained the lead through a Paul Konchesky cross that looped in, however, leaving them on the verge of a famous success at the Millennium Stadium.
Enter Gerrard. As four minutes of added time were shown on the board, the Liverpool skipper fired a magnificent strike into the bottom corner to force extra time.
The game ultimately went to a penalty shootout, in which Gerrard scored to help Liverpool to a 3-1 win, capping off an individual performance so great that it is now commonly referred to as 'the Gerrard final'.
Barney Corkhill
