Bolton 0 - 2 Liverpool

Ed Colenutt, November 15th 2008

Liverpool moved back to the top of the Barclays Premier League after beating Bolton 2-0 at the Reebok thanks to goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard.

Unsurprisingly Rafa Benitez made nine changes from the side that crashed out of the Carling Cup in midweek, Sami Hyypia and Daniel Agger the only players to retain their place. Jamie Carragher was selected at right-back in the absence of Alvaro Arbeloa and Philipp Degen, whilst Fernando Torres had to settle for a place on the bench.

Liverpool set the pace as they went on the offensive from the off. For much of the first half Bolton were unable to get out of their own half as the Reds piled on the pressure, though for all their dominance Liverpool were initially unable to make the breakthrough.

The first real chance of the game fell to Kuyt, who saw his shot smash off the crossbar on 22 minutes after an intricate one-two with Gerrard, then six minutes later the Dutchman did break the deadlock, heading home from Fabio Aurelio’s excellent cross.

Minutes after the restart Kuyt looked to have setup Robbie Keane to double the lead when he drilled a low ball across the box. The Irishman totally miscued though, failing to make any contact with the ball.

Next up Agger could have made it two with a free header from Albert Riera’s cross, while both he and Xabi Alonso came close with efforts from range as Liverpool continued to dominate.

Bolton actually did find the back of the net when Gary Cahill headed home from a corner on the stroke of halftime, but the goal was disallowed after referee Rob Styles spotted an infringement.

After seeing an animated Gary Megson on the touchline throughout the first half you could well imagine the type of team talk his players were getting, and whatever he said seemed to spur them into life, as they started the second half much more brightly.

Liverpool continued to try and pass the ball about like they had in the first half, but whereas Bolton had afforded them space before the break they were now closing the visitors down.

Ricardo Gardner managed to find space behind the Liverpool defence and took the ball round the oncoming Pepe Reina on 51 minutes. He slipped at the crucial moment though just as he looked certain to score, and his shot went harmlessly wide.

Keane made way for Torres on 58 minutes, who almost immediately setup Gerrard with a cross from the right. The captain looked certain to score, but mistimed his shot and put it wide.

It was the first real chance of the second half for Liverpool, who knew a second goal was still needed to secure the three points. The goal finally came on 73 minutes when Torres refused to give up on what initially looked like a lost cause. The Spaniard managed to win the ball back in dangerous territory though before wrong-footing Andy O'Brien on edge of the penalty box. Gerrard was arriving in the box, and Torres hit an exquisite ball with the outside of his boot which the skipper made no mistake in nodding home.

This goal seemed to knock the fight out of Bolton, and Torres almost made it three with 10 minutes to go when he found himself one-on-one with Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Bolton keeper stayed on his feet though, and did well to prevent any further breaches of his goal.

There were a couple more chances for either side, Gardner firing over for Bolton with Lucas and Torres both missing good opportunities for the visitors.

There were no more goals to come though, and the Reds find themselves back at the top of the league, for now at least.

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