Liverpool overcame a stubborn Blackburn Rovers side 2-1 at Anfield to keep the pressure on their rivals for that coveted fourth spot.
Liverpool edge out Blackburn 2-1 at Anfield in feisty affair
Liverpool overcame a stubborn Blackburn Rovers side 2-1 at Anfield to keep the pressure on their rivals for that coveted fourth spot.
With City surprisingly beating Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and Tottenham seeing off Everton a day later, the Reds knew that nothing less than three points would do against Rovers.
However it was the visitors who started the brighter and Rovers boss Sam Allardyce would have felt aggrieved when he saw his side go 1-0 down on 20 minutes after Steven Gerrard had dinked over Paul Robinson.
Rovers did get their equaliser five minutes before the interval when Keith Andrews converted a penalty in front of the Kop after Jamie Carragher had handled when on the floor in the area.
However Allardyce's men shot themselves in the foot moments later when Paul Robinson went walkabout to allow Maxi Rodriguez to simply square for Fernando Torres to tap home on his first start since the FA Cup defeat to Reading in January.
Before the match Allardyce, who has never had a great relationship with Reds manager Rafa Benitez, had said the Spaniard's side played like his former club Bolton.
Feisty
However, on this evidence - five Rovers players were booked and they could easily have had Steven Nzonzi and Pascal Chimbonda sent off - it was Rovers who lived up to Allardyce's reputation.
But it was the goalscoring return of Torres that will have put a smile on Benitez's face as Liverpool scored for the 26th successive league game at Anfield and the 33rd in all competitions.
Surprisingly, the Spain international played no part in the opening goal, which came from a swift and incisive move started by Lucas on the halfway line.
The Brazilian picked out Gerrard who, after exchanging passes with Dirk Kuyt and offloading to Yossi Benayoun, continued his run into the penalty area to collect the return ball, go past Samba and clip home a left-footed shot.
That was after Chris Samba, Martin Olsson and Morten Gamst Pedersen had all had half-chances to put Blackburn ahead.
Liverpool, though, were indebted to Jose Reina in the 17th minute as the goalkeeper made a good double save from Pedersen, particularly the first shot which deflected off Carragher.
On the half-hour Kuyt should have made it 2-0 from Gerrard's corner but appeared to be surprised by the pace of the ball and headed wide from three yards.
In the 38th minute Liverpool were forced into a change when Fabio Aurelio limped off with what looked like a thigh injury and was replaced by Emiliano Insua.
Two minutes later Rovers were gifted an equaliser when Benayoun's weak clearance was played straight back into the penalty area and, despite three Liverpool players surrounding Kalinic, Carragher catastrophically went to ground where the ball hit his hand.
Andrews fired home from the spot to put his side firmly back in the game.
However, Liverpool went ahead again a minute before the break when Samba could only poke the ball off Torres into the path of Rodriguez, who crossed into the six-yard area for the Spaniard to smash home.
Lucky escape
Early in the second half Olsson was booked for handball in the centre-circle before Nzonzi was lucky to escape with a caution, having flattened Lucas with an aggressive push to his face.
Pascal Chimbonda's first act, having come on for Olsson, was to bring down Rodriguez as he threatened to cut into the penalty area.
Chimbonda's second contribution was to carelessly give the ball away to Kuyt, which eventually resulted in Robinson having to tip Rodriguez's shot around the post.
Kalinic was next to go into referee Alan Wiley's book for hacking down Mascherano from behind and, after several close calls, former Liverpool forward El-Hadji Diouf was eventually booked for bringing down Mascherano.
Referee Wiley and one of his linesmen somehow missed Chimbonda, who had already been booked, thrusting his boot into Rodriguez's chest as the Rovers defender rolled on the floor.
Ryan Babel replaced Benayoun for the final 10 minutes but with only a slender lead the pressure began to mount on the hosts.
Torres departed to a standing ovation with his work done but in the knowledge he will have to continue to produce on a regular basis if his club are to secure Champions League football next season.
| Liverpool |
Team Statistics |
Blackburn Rovers |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
8 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 4 |
Corners |
5 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
25 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
5 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 66.9 |
Passing Success |
62.4 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
16 |
| 71.4 |
Tackles Success |
68.8 |
| 54.7 |
Possession |
45.3 |
| 53.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.6 |
|
