Joe Cole came off the bench to snatch a last-gasp winner as Liverpool got 2011 off to a winning start with a 2-1 success against Bolton on New Year's Day.
The No.10 was on hand to guide in Maxi Rodriguez's cut back after Fernando Torres's volley had cancelled out Kevin Davies's first-half opener.
It means the Reds are now up to ninth place in the table, nine points adrift of Chelsea who lie fifth.
The home side had gone into the encounter with a determination to get the disappointment of Wednesday's defeat against Wolves out of their system.
With this in mind, Hodgson opted to make three changes to the side that was undone by Mick McCarthy's men, with Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Agger and Maxi Rodriguez restored to the line-up. Steven Gerrard was a surprise absentee from the starting XI, with fatigue cited as the reason for him dropping to the bench.
In the morning edition of the local Echo newspaper, Club Ambassador, Kenny Dalglish called for everyone connected to Liverpool Football Club to pull together and focus on the matter in hand - claiming three points.
The Anfield faithful would have arrived at their seats expecting a response from their team too but it was a cagey opening with both sides tentative in their approach play.
In fact, there was little to shout about in the first 20 minutes other than when Martin Skrtel flicked a right-wing free-kick a few yards off target and Matt Taylor cleared a Maxi volley from under his own crossbar.
With the tempo slowing and passes going astray there was a clear need for some inspiration and the sight of Gerrard taking to the field in place of the injured Raul Meireles seemed to lift the spirits of the crowd. [Read more…]
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
0 comments:
Post a Comment