Liverpool 3 Bolton 0

A win to stay top on Boxing Day! Liverpool stayed numero uno after beating Bolton 3 goals to none. Goals from Keane (2) and Riera ensured the Reds end 2008 without a single lose at home. Rafa Benitez was on the directors' box only as he has yet to fully recover from his kidney stone surgery. Credits must be given to the staffs who operated so well without him and much of it goes to Sammy Lee.

"Gerrard, how did I score???"

After three consecutive draws at home, Liverpool stepped up their game to ensure they got back to winning ways. Riera took the initiative first when Liverpool gained a corner in the 26th minute. Gerrard took the corner and Riera ran in front of a defender to connect with the ball midair to push the ball into the net with the sole of his foot. Liverpool went into the tunnel at half time with the slander lead.

"No cartwheel but this will do!"

However, the victory was very much assured not long after the start of the second half. On the 53rd minute, Keane opened his scoring with a great goal to give Liverpool a two goal advantage. A through ball from Gerrard met with Keane and he made no mistake to put it into the net. Within 5 minutes, Keane sealed the victory for Liverpool with his second and Liverpool's third. It all started from Reina whose quick-thinking helped Liverpool launch a counter-attack. He caught the ball from a corner and threw the ball to Alonso who was free in the middle. He combined well with Keane and Benayoun which gave the Bolton defence no chance. Keane made a clever run to release Benayoun on the right. He received the ball from Alonso and passed it first time to Keane who slotted the ball past Jaaskelainen.

Overall, it was a dominating display from Liverpool. Everyone must be pleased with the victory having drawn three consecutive home league matches. I was pleased to see Keane scored another two goals after his equaliser against Arsenal. He showed he can play for Liverpool and score some great goals. Maybe when he arrived, he was not accustomed to Liverpool's style of play. Also, he was not used to playing up front alone. However, I think he has benefited from Torres' absence. It has created the opportunity for him to play a role he was not familiar with. Game after game, maybe he has understood the position better and is adjusting his strengths to need of the position. He has played with Torres before and I did not see much linking between both. Now that Torres is getting back and Keane has grown as a player up front, I dare to believe I will see goals from both players the next time they play together. 4-4-2 with both of them up front might be a very lethal weapon for Liverpool now on. We'll wait and see.

Up next will be the last fixture of 2008. Liverpool will face Newcastle and it will be massive if Liverpool beat them. It will place Liverpool as league leaders going into 2009. Hopefully as time pass, we would be able to say Liverpool are still top of the league until the last game is out of the way!


"You'll Never Walk Alone"