Reds firepower blitzes Bolton

Liverpool 3 Bolton 0

Northwest neighbours they may be, but there is little warmth between Liverpool and Bolton. Allardyce’s team are regarded as an irritant by many opponents, but their muscular approach to the game gets under the skin of Benitez in particular.

Prior to his team’s 2-0 defeat at the Reebok in September, the Spaniard rather foolishly went public with a pre-match criticism of Allardyce’s tactics and Bolton’s willingness to push officials to the limit with their physical play. “They would never get away with it in Spain” was the general theme of Benitez’s tirade.

Having emerged from Bolton on the back of that autumn hiding with Allardyce admitting that Benitez’s comments had been pinned up on the dressing room wall, one would expect the Anfield manager to keep his counsel on this occasion and let his team’s football do the talking.

But no, he opted to repeat his ill-judged rant while also calling for referee Graham Poll to wise up to Bolton’s tactics. It was as foolhardy as pulling a tiger’s tail and expecting it to roll over to have its belly scratched.

On this occasion, though, Benitez’s words worked in his favour and his players grasped the warning to leave Bolton’s five-game winning run in tatters as goals from Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt claimed victory, and third spot, for Liverpool.

Benitez said: “We were waiting for a physical game and the first half was difficult, but we scored the goals in the second half and that opened the game up for us.

“Bolton are a good team, they have their style and it has been working for them. It is clear that it is direct and physical and all managers say the same, but our three goals were fantastic. Kuyt worked really hard and he scored a very good goal and the one from Crouch was really nice.”

The Bolton supporters made their feelings towards Benitez clear enough by chanting, “You’re just a fat Spanish waiter” whenever he emerged from his dug-out, and in the first-half Allardyce’s players showed their own contempt by living up to their stereotype.

Indeed, Kevin Davies’ agricultural challenge on winger Mark Gonzalez, which should have earned a booking, seemed designed to infuriate Benitez further, with the foul occurring less than two feet from the patrolling manager on the touchline.

It was a dull first half and Liverpool’s football was no better than Bolton’s.

The home side could not get behind the Bolton defence, and when Xabi Alonso shot wide from long distance moments later, it summed up Liverpool’s unimaginative play.

With the second half beginning in similar fashion, a miserable start to the New Year looked on the cards until two goals in two minutes transformed the game completely and allowed Benitez to feel slightly more comfortable about his pre-match words.

Bolton’s seemingly impenetrable defence was finally undone by the efforts of Pennant and Kuyt down the Liverpool right. Pennant, previously anonymous, carved out the opener for Crouch when he beat full-back Ricardo Gardner before crossing for the England forward to score with a spectacular scissors-kick from six yards.

Having been linked with a January move to Newcastle, Crouch barely had time to celebrate his first Premiership goal since October before Gerrard doubled Liverpool’s lead.

Again, Pennant did well down the right and his link-up with Kuyt led to the cross from which Gerrard scored with a side-foot volley from the spot.

Arriving at Anfield in search of their sixth successive league victory, Bolton were now reduced to damage limitation, but Kuyt scored a third for Liverpool with a well-taken strike into the far corner seven minutes from time.

Bolton manager Allardyce said: “I could smell the goal coming. It was a game too many from our point of view and we had nothing like the energy we needed to keep Liverpool out.”

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Pennant, Alonso, Gerrard (Aurelio 85), Gonzalez (Luis Garcia 69), Crouch, Kuyt (Fowler 85).

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Faye, Ben Haim, Gardner, Campo, Nolan (Teymourian 81), Speed (Tal 66), Diouf (Vaz Te 66), Anelka, Davies.

Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).