Pre-match

Both teams went into this match in pretty average form.  Bolton were sitting in 15^th at kick off – only a point above the drop zone, even after the win over Burnley last time out.

Liverpool have had a poor season so far and good performances have been swiftly followed by a bad ones – win against Man U then  lose to Fulham; outplay Spurs then fail to turn up against Wolves.  The only time we have strung consecutive wins in the league this year was four games in August and September.  Although we never played any top teams in that time, the first victory was against Bolton and the Reds will be hopeful that today’s win will be the start of another run; one that will lead us to that all-important 4th place.

Liverpool picked an attacking line up with only Mascherano sat in front of the back 4, as Aquilani came in for Lucas.  Kuyt moved to the right wing as Maxi made way for Ngog – presumably Rafa thought his pace would be an asset.  Bolton made one change – Mark Davies, the victim of the infamous Gallas tackle, came in for Klasnic as Owen Coyle looked to add a bit of security for his back line and played with Kevin Davies as a lone striker; a strategy many teams use at Anfield, to some effect.

1st Half

Liverpool were the more positive side, dominating possession and Insua was having a lot of freedom on the left side, overlapping Riera at will.  Kyrgiakos and Skrtel were keeping Davies quiet and he was getting little help from the players behind him.  Liverpool’s best chance of the first half was when Insua got a cross in, only for it to fall just out of reach of Kuyt with the goal gaping.  Ngog looked busy but never really created much and Liverpool gave away possession a bit much for my liking.

Bolton produced little going forward except Cohen who had a chance to score but stabbed a shot straight at the on-rushing Reina.  Bolton’s best chance of the first half was Chung-Yong Lee’s mazy dribble into the box, rounding Reina before seeing his shot cleared off the line by Kyrgiakos.

The opening goal came, unsurprisingly, from the left side.  Insua delivered a cross to the back post and Aquilani rose above Knight, who seemed to misjudge it, to head it across the 6-yard box.  Kuyt arrived at the right time to slip the ball through Cahill’s legs and into the net.  A deserved lead that seemed to settle the Reds who visibly came out of the shell.

2nd Half

Liverpool upped the tempo after the break, passing with a fluidity that has been missing for most of the season.   Neat work by Riera allowed Gerrard to get a good shot off and the rebound fell to Ngog who couldn’t sort his feet out in time, hitting the frame of the goal when it looked easier to score. 10 minutes later and Gerrard struck one of his trademark thunderbolts from 25 yards out, only to see Jaaskelainen make a good save low down.

On 64 minutes, Rafa brought on Lucas for Aquilani, reverting to the normal two holding players he likes.  Was it a case of “we hold what we have”?  The failure to score the decisive ‘killer’ goal has cost Liverpool dearly this season and Rafa could be forgiven for thinking a 1-0 was good enough.

Luckily for Liverpool, the second goal did come in the 70th minute when a corner was not properly cleared and fell to Insua at the edge of the box.  He hit a shot which would have worried the corner flag more than the goalie, but Kevin Davies inadvertently deflected it past the helpless Jaaskelainen.  Game over, as Bolton had not looked remotely threatening in the 2nd half.

Maxi came on for Riera on 73 and Babel replaced Ngog with 6 minutes to go but neither made a mark on the game.  Gerrard finished the game strongly, the ball seemingly attracted to him, and he was the victim of plenty of cynical challenges.  Liverpool looked most likely, but 3-0 would probably have been harsh on Bolton who probably didn’t expect much from this game – they hadn’t won in the league at Anfield since 1954.

Post-match

Bolton will look forward to matches against their fellow strugglers in their pursuit of enough points to keep them in the Premier League; their next nine league games only includes one team currently in the top 8 and their season will be defined there.

Liverpool will think of this as job done – 3 points collected and a clean sheet, something that has happened all too rarely this season.  That’s 6 games undefeated now, although the draws against Stoke and Wolves may still prove costly and we aren’t playing the best footy yet.

Good performances from Kyrgiakos, Insua, Gerrard and Riera will have helped their confidence.  Lucas can be pleased with how he played for the last 30 minutes and Aquilani will be pleased with how he played despite being shaky to start with.  Ngog still looks like a boy trying to fill a man’s shoes (which is what he is, really) and Rafa must surely be thinking about bringing some help in the last couple of days of the winter window.  The cameo from Babel may have been little more than advertising him or keeping him quiet by giving him some playing time – only time will tell.

Typically down-to-earth, Rafa said of this important win, “We are improving. You can see the team is working very hard, and hopefully we can keep the momentum.”

Tom Hicks was at Anfield to see this win and hopefully sees that we still need a couple of players; definitely a striker and maybe a defender to cover a few slots (á la Carragher).  Whether or not he opens his wallet between now and Feb 1st, we will wait and see.

When asked about the transfer window, Rafa said, “We are working. We have a managing director and a chief scout.  It’s not easy because it’s difficult to find better players than you have already in January. At least we are watching players and trying to find someone who will be good for the team.”

Talking about Ryan Babel, whose future has been the subject of much speculation recently, Benitez said simply, “He will stay.”

EssJay