Bolton v Liverpool: full time report
Bolton 0 Liverpool 1
A late goal from Maxi Rodriguez lifted Liverpool out of the relegation zone against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
The Argentina international latched on to an impudent backheel from Fernando Torres and toe-poked the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen to seal a precious three points for Roy Hodgson's side.
Bolton had their chances – particularly in the second half – but it was Liverpool who dug in deep to net the game's only goal.
The Merseyside outfit controlled the opening stages of the match and came close to breaking the deadlock through Torres on two separate occasions in the first 10 minutes. The Liverpool No. 9 connected well with a Steven Gerrard cross, but his header sailed over Jaaskelainen's crossbar on the third minute.
Torres then had an even better chance to put the Reds in front at the Reebok Stadium moments later. After running on to a pass from Gerrard, the out-of-sorts Spaniard cut inside his marker, but spurned a great opportunity to give his side the lead after mis-hitting his shot.
Meanwhile, it took Bolton 22 minutes to get their first shot on target, although when it came, it almost led to a stunning opener. A neat flicked pass from Kevin Davies found Stuart Holden on the edge of the penalty area, and the USA international powered a well-struck volley towards the Liverpool goal, only to be denied by Pepe Reina.
Chances had been few and far between, although Matt Taylor had two free-kicks well saved by Reina towards the end of the first 45 minutes, as the two sides headed to their dressing rooms all square.
The second half began in not too dissimilar fashion to the first, with Roy Hodgson's side generally dictating the tempo of the match and looking the more likely to score first.
The visitors had passed the ball around well and were far more cohesive than in recent weeks, but were dealt an untimely blow on the hour mark when Joe Cole was forced to hobble off with a hamstring injury.
Despite the setback, Liverpool refused to let their heads bow, and went close again through Sotirios Kyrgiakos. The Greek defender rose well to meet Steven Gerrard's corner, but the 31-year-old's header narrowly cleared Reina's crossbar.
The centre-back was then rather fortuitous at the other end of the pitch after nearly conceding a penalty for a push on Davies. Despite the protests of the Bolton players, though, referee Martin Atkinson waved play-on.
Soon afterwards, an audacious overhead kick by Maxi landed on the roof of the Bolton net, following a fantastic flowing team move involving Gerrard and Torres.
However, it was the revitalised Johan Elmander who was next to ask the question with a low drive from 20-yards, which Reina was equal to.
From the resulting corner, Zat Knight rose highest to meet the ball with his head, but the defender's effort flew over. And then Elmander dragged another shot wide on his unfancied right-foot as Bolton began to turn the s***w.
With 15 minutes left to play, Davies had a glorious chance to put the hosts 1-0 up, but his glanced header rolled agonisingly wide of Jaaskelainen's far post.
And the hosts would pay for that costly miss, as Maxi stole on to Torres' classy flick – which went through the legs of Gary Cahill - to toe-poke the ball underneath Jaaskelainen and lift Liverpool out of the bottom three for the first time since October 3rd.
Tags: