Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Video and Match Report)

Liverpool won 2-0 on Boxing Day against Wolverhampton Wanderers following goals from Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun.

Final whistle match report courtesy of Click Liverpool

When Wolverhampton Wanderers last visited Anfield in March 2004, Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was on the brink of leaving the club following two seasons of failure to build on a second-placed finish. Fast forward five and a half years and the situation remains the same with Rafael Benitez struggling to revive the Reds’ dwindling season.

However the current crisis engulfing the Reds was given a festive repreieve with a two-nil win over Mick McCarthy’s side thanks to a headed effort from Steven Gerrard and a well taken piece of craftmanship from Yossi Benayoun.

A signal of intent was required after last weekend’s defeat to bottom club Portsmouth saw the Reds lose their 27th points of the current campaign, compared to 28 in the entirity of the previous season. As expected, Alberto Aquilani was handed his first ever league start in place of the suspended Javier Mascherano as one of three changes by Rafael Benitez. Dirk Kuyt was relegated to the substitutes’ bench in favour of Benayoun whilst Andrea Dossena was dropped in order to hand Fabio Aurelio a starting role on the left-hand side of midfield.

The Brazilian attempted to strike the first blow in the first minute of the game with a well taken free kick which failed to elude Marcus Hahnemann in the visitors’ goal. Hahnemann was called into action four minutes later when Gerrard hit a low effort after some good build-up play from Aquilani only for the American stopper to parry the ball out for a corner.

But it was Torres who proved to be a handful for the Wolves defence, turning Richard Stearman twice before angling a shot from a tight angle which Hahnemann punched out. Christophe Berra sent the Spaniard tumbling on the edge of the area at the 15-minute mark but referee Andre Marriner waved away protests as the Midlanders struggled to cope with several mounted attacks by the hosts.

Despite Wolves’ failure to break through the Reds’ back line until the 21st minute, a flurry of chances came all at once when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake fired a shot inside the area which Pepe Reina had no problems stopping. The Spaniard did however struggle with a Nenad Miilijas free kick he palmed over. Kevin Doyle almost opened the scoring but blazed his header from the resulting corner wide of Reina’s left-hand post. Milijas went close again, striking from outside the area after Doyle had hooked the ball over the head of Daniel Agger.

Gerrard was fortunate not to be cautioned after a sharp double-tackle on Stephen Ward and Matthew Jarvis. Ward was also on the receiving end of a mistimed Lucas Leiva challenge as the Wanderers tried to stamp their authority on the game. Liverpool struggled to make the most of their chances with the Reds’ Brazilian midfielder blazing high over Hahnemann’s crossbar from the edge of the area. Frustration boiled over from the stands towards the end of the half as Johnson blasted straight at the American from inside the area as Benitez’s side went into the interval on level terms with the Premiership newcomers.

Wolves owner Steve Morgan will have the Anfield directors box at half time no doubt feeling pleased with the response from his club. The former Liverpool shareholder had attempted to buy his boyhood club from former chairman David Moores before he sold to George Gillett and Tom Hicks and was buoyed by the return to his old stomping ground against a sheepish home side whose first-half performance had reflected the sore heads being nursed on the Kop by supporters suffering from the annual dose of Yuletide indulgence.

However it was the home side who returned from the break the stronger. After being teed up on the edge of the area by Insua, Gerrard tried to break the deadlock but saw his effort turned away by Hahnemann. The turning point came five minutes later when the visitors were reduced to ten men following Ward’s second bookable offence; but only after a mass scuffle between both sets of players with Reina running the length of the pitch to remonstrate with fourth official Phil Dowd after referee Andre Marriner wrongly cautioned Christophe Berra.

Gerrard finally opened the scoring on 61 minutes after connecting perfectly with an Insua cross into the box to deal a heavy blow to a buoyed Wolves side that were clearly feeliing the strain of Ward’s dismissal. As the heavens opened above Anfield, so did the floodgates as Benayoun added a second eight minutes later after weaving through the Wolves defence and firing beyond Hahnemann and several Wanderers players stationed on the line as Liverpool’s players started to realise their full potential. The Israeli almost added a third on 77 minutes but could only send a looping header over Hahnemann’s bar as the Kop cheered their team’s every touch.

Dani Pacheco was given his second senior appearance of the season, coming on for Aquilani on 84 minutes. The Spanish starlet was almost the the architect of another Reds move but compatriot Torres failed to beat a brutish Wanderers defence. Two minutes from time Jay Spearing, a product of the club’s famous youth system replaced Benayoun, who left to a standing ovation as Liverpool secured maximum poins ahead of a tricky trip to Villa Park in three days’ time.

Final score: Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Insua, Aurelio (Kuyt 75), Aquilani (Pacheco 84), Lucas, Benayoun (Spearing 88), Gerrard, Torres. Subs not used: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Darby, Ngog.

Wolves: Hahnemann, Stearman, Craddock, Henry, Ebanks-Blake (Iwelumo 66), Ward, Berra, Jarvis, Milijas (Mancienne 62), Doyle (Elokobi 57), Foley. Subs not used: Hennessey, Surman, Maierhofer, Castillo.

Attendance: 41,956.

Got something to say? Submit your views below!

1. abdulahi says:

   27th December, 2009 at 2:42 am

   see rafa you play with aqualani and you win good job phils

   Reply
2. Eddy says:

   27th December, 2009 at 7:30 am

   i doubt rafa will stick with this formation after masch is back..

   Reply
3. Hieu says:

   27th December, 2009 at 7:45 am

   good job lads. great to see Aqua starting finally

   Reply
4. 8gerrard8 says:

   27th December, 2009 at 10:59 pm

   pleased with aqua’s performance.

   Reply

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