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Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth: Reds Stroll Past Portsmouth
Merseysiders move into fifth after crushing Pompey.
Mar 15, 2010 5:55:00 PM
By Gill Clark
After dispiriting defeats to Lille and Wigan Athletic, Liverpool returned to winning ways with an emphatic victory over the Premier League’s bottom side Portsmouth, at Anfield.
Rafael Benitez, so often criticized for his conservatism and perhaps sensing goals, opted to change things leaving Lucas and Dirk Kuyt on the sidelines and bringing in Alberto Aquilani, Ryan Babel and Maxi Rodriguez. Portsmouth, meanwhile, replaced the injured David James with Jamie Ashdown with Ricardo Rocha and Papa Bouba Diop also handed starts.
The home side began the game brightly, at a less than packed Anfield, but struggled to create a clear cut chance until the quarter of an hour mark when Aquilani half-volleyed a decent attempt just wide after some neat one-touch football.
Yet the Reds were clearly warming to the task and with 26 minutes on the clock Fernando Torres opened the scoring after a mistake from stand-in goalkeeper Ashdown.
The Pompey shot-stopper’s attempted clearance was charged down by Gerrard, the ball falling to Rodriguez who squared for Torres to sweep home from close range, much to the relief of the home crowd.
Matters quickly got worse for the visitors as two minutes later the Reds’ doubled their lead. Portsmouth failed to clear a cross from the right, which fell to Torres who attempted to shoot before rolling the ball back to Babel who poked it low and into the far corner.
Suddenly Liverpool were rampant and only minutes later they had a third, and a first in English football for Aquilani.
Off the mark | Italian grabs his first goal in English football
A cute backheel from Torres was intended for Gerrard but instead came through to the Italian who beat Ashdown at his near post with a confident finish.
The belief drained out of Portsmouth and they could have been further behind before the break. First Torres was unlucky to see a fabulous curling shot hit the post before Gerrard flashed an effort wide from close range when it looked easier to score.
The second period began in similar fashion with Gerrard bringing a fine save from Ashdown within five minutes of the restart before the shot-stopper then had to be alert to tip Babel’s shot onto the woodwork seconds later.
Yet it wasn’t all one way traffic and Portsmouth were unlucky not to grab a goal back before the hour mark. Nadir Belhadj waltzed past Glen Johnson down the left before crossing for Michael Brown but his well struck shot was tipped over the bar by Pepe Reina.
The pair renewed their battle moments later, this time in the Portsmouth box with Belhadj’s challenge on Johnson leaving the crowd howling for a penalty, but referee Stuart Attwell waved the claims away.
It was to be Johnson’s last act of the game, subsequently replaced by Martin Kelly and swiftly followed by Gerrard taken off by Benitez, perhaps wisely, after appearing to throw an elbow at Brown in an ugly off the ball incident missed by the referee.
Yet the changes did not prevent Liverpool from claiming a fourth, and it was little surprise to see Torres grab his second of the game. Aquilani was the provider feeding the Spaniard inside the box and he cut inside Rocha before smashing his shot past the despairing dive of Ashdown.
With minutes to go the visitors grabbed a goal back, Danny Webber’s cross finding Piquionne whose low ball across the box was finished neatly by Belhadj but it was little more than a consolation after a poor display by Avram Grant’s men.
Liverpool, in contrast, begin an important week in fine style and will take confidence from this performance ahead of their Europa League second leg on Thursday before they head to Old Trafford, and Manchester United, on Sunday.
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