FOOTBALL Live

Friday December 26, 2008 Finished Anfield

3 - 0

Liverpool

  • Riera 26’
  • Keane 53’, 58’

Bolton Wanderers

  1. Liverpool cruise past Bolton

    Liverpool cruise past Bolton

    Liverpool stayed one point clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League thanks to a 3-0 win over Bolton at Anfield. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Liverpool
    • Bolton Wanderers
    • 90+4 Liverpool have a corner after Davies slides in on El Zhar, it drops to Benayoun who shoots for the bottom right but a great save from Jaaskelainen who parries the follow-up too! And that's the final whistle, Liverpool back on top after 100 minutes in second place, a comfortable win against Bolton who were frankly poor.
    • 90+2 El Zhar runs it out on the left but the flag was up anyway for offside.
    • 90' N'Gog almost gets in but is blocked by O'Brien as he pulls the trigger. Great ball by Keane to play him through though.
    • 87' Alonso swings the corner far post and Hyypia comes in with a header but Bolton clear.
    • 86' Alonso swings it in and Jaaseklainen has to punch with Hyypia flying in, eventually it is put behind for a Liverpool corner.
    • 84' Almost a chance for a consolation as Smolarek caps off a neat move with a left-foot drive across Reina and just wide of the right-hand post.
    • 80' McCann booked for a stray arm.
    • 76' LIVERPOOL SUB: Kuyt comes off for N'Gog.
    • 74' Right-wing corner to Liverpool is swung towards the far end of the six-yard box and Agger rises to meet it but sends the downward header past the post and just too far away from Keane stretching to try for the hat-trick.
    • 73' LIVERPOOL SUB: Lucas on for Gerrard.
    • 72' Another risky tackle by Steinsson, who slides in on Keane on the left.
    • 69' LIVERPOOL SUB: El Zhar on for Riera.
    • 66' A brave double sub for Bolton, who bring on Smolarek and Riga for Elmaner and Taylor.
    • 57' Quick throw by Reina, Alonso on the ball, he surges through the middle, he goes wide to Benayoun who first-time slips it low into the box WHERE KEANE ARRIVES WITH A SIMPLE FINISH FOR HIS SECOND! 3-0 Liverpool, who are cruising and finally have the scoreline to reflect their first-half dominance.
    • 55' Insua slips a ball down the touchline to Riera, who is hugging the chalk like an old-school outside left and whips in a superb cross THAT KUYT STOOPS TO HEAD BUT HE CAN'T MAKE GOOD ENOUGH CONTACT and behind for a corner!
    • 53' Gerrard on the ball, he spots a diagonal run into the centre-left from Keane, plays him in AND KEANE DRILLS IT PAST JAASKELAINEN INTO THE ROOF OF THE NET FOR 2-0! Great run off the ball and a finish to match, Liverpool cruising.
    • 48' Alan Wiley brings Steinsson and Bolton captain Kevin Nolan over for a chat as, just after being booked, the Iceland defender put his arm across Riera.
    • 47' Steinsson booked for a late tackle.
    • 46' Second half underway!
    • 46' BOLTON SUB: The Trotters go 4-4-2 as Davies comes on for Samuel, Taylor moves to left-back.
    • 46' And that is half-time, Liverpool lead through that Albert Riera goal.
    • 45' One minute additional time being played.
    • 44' Great play by Benayoun down the right, almost slipping initially but then cutting inside, beating two men and smashing a cross in that is blocked for a corner. Gerrard's delivery is cleared but drops to Agger with a vicious drive, blocked though and Bolton clear!
    • 42' Still all Liverpool as they continue to work down the right, inside now with some neat one-touch play out left but Riera's cross takes a deflection to go away from Kuyt and Keane and back with Jaaskelainen.
    • 40' The big lads get forward for Liverpool with Gerrard to take the corner. A huge delay for some reason and when the ball is sent in Hyypia is penalised for pushing.
    • 38' Agger gets forward, running with the ball from halfway and he has a left-foot shot but miles wide. Keane on a run down the left, he wins a corner.
    • 37' The ball drops to BENAYOUN IN THE AREA WITH THE HALF-VOLLEY but he sends it wide!
    • 36' Kuyt and McCann tangle, the Bolton man hauls him down and Alan Wiley has to have a word as it's not the first foul.
    • 34' Good defending by O'Brien to shut out Keane. Not a single question has been asked of Liverpool's back five yet.
    • 32' Muamba into the back of Benayoun, free-kick taken a bit too quickly and Kuyt is offside.
    • 30' Nolan leaves Riera in a heap, free-kick Liverpool.
    • 29' Great run and cross from Benayoun on the right but Riera can't get there this time and Bolton clear.
    • 28' Kuyt takes a long ball on his chest and almost goes clean through but O'Brien does well to get behind him and hack it clear.
    • 26' Gerrard to take from the left, he puts it near post AND RIERA FLIES IN WITH A TOE POKE AHEAD OF ELMANDER FOR 1-0! Poor from Elmander, he seemed to pull away as the Spaniard came to connect, 1-0 Liverpool.
    • 25' Alonso takes this one and it flies across the goalmouth but McCann gets a touch and it's out for another corner.
    • 24' The corner does not clear the first man but Liverpool still attack and a long one from deep aimed at Riera is put behind for another corner by Matty Taylor.
    • 23' More pressure from Liverpool as Benayoun sends in a superb cross to Keane that is deflected over for a corner.
    • 21' Bolton have not ventured past halfway with Liverpool totally in control but a touch sluggish where it really counts. McCann slides in on Benayoun to put it out for a throw.
    • 19' Kuyt leaps prodigiously to win a high on in the box, the ball is still with Liverpool as Alonso gets it from Benayoun and swings over a cross for KUYT WITH THE HEADER but he puts it over!
    • 16' Alonso with a clever ball wide to Riera, who cuts inside with a mazy dribble and finds Alonso again. Benayoun now on the right, inside to Kuyt who tries to shoot with the outside of his right but sees the effort blocked.
    • 15' Riera in space down the left but he's pulled back, he was a couple of yards offside, utterly unnecessary.
    • 10' Corner to Liverpool on the left which Alonso whips in but is headed powerfully clear. After some head tennis it drops to Riera on the right but his low drive is well wide.
    • 6' Riera with a run into the left channel but good defending by Steinsson to block the cross and win a goal kick.
    • 5' The ball drops to Gerrard on the edge of the box but his shot is blocked and Bolton clear for now.
    • 3' Bolton have barely touched the ball in these opening minutes...
    • 1' Match underway at Anfield!
    • - BOLTON TEAM NEWS: Kevin Davies is on the bench with Fabrice Muamba starting on the right in the only real surprise for Bolton, clearly going for solidity over goal threat.
    • - LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS: What odds that Benitez was going to mix it up? Alvaro Arbeloa is dropped from the squad after Adebayor-gate, with Carragher moving to right-back and Hyypia in the middle. Benayoun starts on the right as Liverpool - shock! horror! - go 4-4-2, with Kuyt accompanying Keane up front.
    • - Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Boxing Day clash between league leaders Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers from 15:00 UK time!

  • Team Stats

    Liverpool Stats Bolton Wanderers
    74% Possession 25%
    23 Shots 2
    6 Shots on target 1
    1 Saves 2
    16 Corners 3
    12 Fouls 7
    4 Offsides 0
    1 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 0
    15 Tackles 21
    609 Accurate passes 159
    87 Bad passes 17

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Liverpool
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 3 0
      4 Sami Hyypia 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 74 2 1
      22 Emiliano Insua 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 45 9 2
      23 Jamie Carragher 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 60 2 1
      5 Daniel Agger 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 53 6 0
      8 Steven Gerrard 0 3 0 2 0 0 2 82 13 0
      14 Xabi Alonso 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 117 18 4
      15 Yossi Benayoun 0 3 1 1 0 0 1 28 1 1
      11 Albert Riera 1 3 1 0 3 2 0 25 8 2
      18 Dirk Kuyt 0 3 0 2 2 1 0 22 4 2
      7 Robbie Keane 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 44 8 0
      20 Javier Mascherano 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Stephen Darby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Ryan Babel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Nabil El Zhar 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 15 6 1
      1 Diego Cavalieri 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 David Ngog 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 4 0
      21 Lucas Leiva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 3 1
    • Bolton Wanderers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      22 Jussi Jaaskelainen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 0
      31 Andy O'Brien 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 2 3
      3 Jlloyd Samuel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0
      7 Matthew Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1 1
      15 Grétar Steinsson 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 7 0 3
      11 Ricardo Gardner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2 3
      5 Gary Cahill 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 13 1 0
      4 Kevin Nolan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20 2 1
      19 Gavin McCann 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 20 2 5
      6 Fabrice Muamba 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 0 3
      9 Johan Elmander 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14 0 0
      17 Riga Mustapha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1
      35 Temitope Obadeyi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      14 Kevin Davies 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 11 1 1
      30 Chris Basham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Ebi Smolarek 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0
      26 Ali Al-Habsi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Danny Shittu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 57' Quick throw by Reina, Alonso on the ball, he surges through the middle, he goes wide to Benayoun who first-time slips it low into the box WHERE KEANE ARRIVES WITH A SIMPLE FINISH FOR HIS SECOND! 3-0 Liverpool, who are cruising and finally have the scoreline to reflect their first-half dominance.
    • 55' Insua slips a ball down the touchline to Riera, who is hugging the chalk like an old-school outside left and whips in a superb cross THAT KUYT STOOPS TO HEAD BUT HE CAN'T MAKE GOOD ENOUGH CONTACT and behind for a corner!
    • 53' Gerrard on the ball, he spots a diagonal run into the centre-left from Keane, plays him in AND KEANE DRILLS IT PAST JAASKELAINEN INTO THE ROOF OF THE NET FOR 2-0! Great run off the ball and a finish to match, Liverpool cruising.
    • 37' The ball drops to BENAYOUN IN THE AREA WITH THE HALF-VOLLEY but he sends it wide!
    • 26' Gerrard to take from the left, he puts it near post AND RIERA FLIES IN WITH A TOE POKE AHEAD OF ELMANDER FOR 1-0! Poor from Elmander, he seemed to pull away as the Spaniard came to connect, 1-0 Liverpool.
    • 19' Kuyt leaps prodigiously to win a high on in the box, the ball is still with Liverpool as Alonso gets it from Benayoun and swings over a cross for KUYT WITH THE HEADER but he puts it over!
    • - Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Boxing Day clash between league leaders Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers from 15:00 UK time!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Alan Wiley

  • Liverpool

    Manager: Rafael Benitez

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    Starting line-up

    • J. Reina
    • J. Carragher
    • D. Agger
    • S. Hyypia
    • E. Insua
    • Y. Benayoun
    • S. Gerrard Substitution Out (73′)
    • X. Alonso
    • A. Riera Goal Substitution Out (69′)
    • R. Keane Goals×2
    • D. Kuyt Substitution Out (76′)

    Subs

    • J. Mascherano
    • R. Babel
    • D. N'Gog Substitution In76′
    • N. El Zhar Substitution In69′
    • S. Darby
    • L. Lucas Substitution In73′
    • D. Cavalieri

    Injured

    • F. Aurelio
    • P. Degen
    • M. Skrtel

    Suspended

    None

  • Bolton Wanderers

    Manager: Gary Megson

    Captain: Kevin Nolan

    Starting line-up

    • J. Jaaskelainen
    • G. Steinsson Yellow Card
    • G. Cahill
    • A. O'Brien
    • J. Samuel Substitution Out (46′)
    • G. McCann Yellow Card
    • F. Muamba
    • K. Nolan
    • M. Taylor Substitution Out (66′)
    • R. Gardner
    • J. Elmander Substitution Out (66′)

    Subs

    • K. Davies Substitution In46′
    • C. Basham
    • E. Smolarek Substitution In66′
    • D. Shittu
    • A. Al Habsi
    • R. Mustapha Substitution In66′
    • T. Obadeyi

    Injured

    • R. Vaz Te
    • T. Cohen
    • J. O'Brien

    Suspended

    None