Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Liverpool Finish Strong To Defeat 10-Man Wolverhampton Wanderers

Steven Gerrard's fifth and Yossi Benayoun's seventh goal of the season gave Liverpool a much needed home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield, and saw them climb up a place to seventh in the Premier League table.

The first half began with Liverpool dominating possession but they were unable to open the scoring, the home side did have two early chances but they failed to test Marcus Hahnemann in the Wolverhampton Wanderers goal.

In the fifth minute Alberto Aquilani won the ball in the middle of the pitch and fed Lucas Leiva who in turn found Fernando Torres. The Spaniard laid the ball off to Steven Gerrard whose 25 yard strike was easily saved by Marcus Hahnemann in the Wolves goal.

Two minutes later it was Torres’ turn to test Hahnemann, Emiliano Insua broke away but his pass pushed Torres very wide in the Wolves area. Torres twisted and turned inside the area before firing his shot at goal but Hahnemann was able to tip the ball over the bar.

The visitors began to grow in confidence and started to have good possession of their own, creating the three best chances of the half. In the 21st minute Matthew Jarvis broke away down the left wing, taking on Glen Johnson before crossing into Sylvain Ebanks-Blake who turned and shot at goal, but Jose Reina was able to gather it comfortably.

A couple of minutes later, Wolves had the clearest opportunity of the match. Nenad Milijas curled a free kick goalwards but Reina tipped it over the bar. From the resulting corner an unmarked Kevin Doyle headed wide from three yards.

Wolves’ third opportunity in five minutes fell to Serbian Milijas; Kevin Doyle flicked the ball over his head into the middle of the pitch where the unmarked midfielder scuffed his shot wide of Reina’s goal.

In the 29th minute Liverpool had the ball in the net. Gerrard threaded a pass through the Wolves defence to Torres who clipped the ball over Hahnemann, only to be flagged offside. Despite a late chance for Glen Johnson both sides went into the break goalless.

Easy does it | Yossi Benayoun seals the win

The first chance of the second half fell to Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli midfielder was picked out superbly by Aquilani but he failed to control the ball and the ball was cleared by Stephen Ward.

In the 49th minute Liverpool had their best move of the match, culminating with Insua finding an unmarked Gerrard on the edge of the box, but the England midfielder's shot was well saved by Hahnemann.

Two minutes later Wolves fullback Stephen Ward fouled Lucas on the edge of the visitors’ penalty area, the referee Andre Mariner gave the free kick but bizarrely issued a yellow card to Christophe Berra.

However, after consulting with his linesman, the referee corrected his decision and gave Ward his second booking and his marching orders.

A much more confident Liverpool then grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and, in the 61st minute, they took the lead. Insua slipped free from his marker and delivered an accurate cross to the centre of the goal where Steven Gerrard rose highest to power a header into the net.

Liverpool doubled their lead in the 69th minute. A deep cross from Fabio Aurelio found Yossi Benayoun unmarked on the right of the penalty area. The midfielder brought the ball under control brilliantly before turning onto his left foot and firing goalwards. The shot took slight deflection off Karl Henry which took the shot away from Hahnemann and into the top of the net.

Benayoun could have scored his second in the 77th minute, after a neat passing move Aquilani found Johnson on the right wing, but from the cross Benayoun headed over the bar.

Wolves never gave up in the remaining 13 minutes, but they were unable to create any clear chances to test Reina in the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool ended the game as they started it: in control of possession. And although they created a chance for Fernando Torres, they were happy to retain possession and hold onto their victory.

Alex Fisher, Goal.com UK