Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth - 7M sport

Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 by

Rafa Benitez finally took the shackles off Liverpool – and was rewarded with a stunning first-half onslaught against poor Pompey.

It was a display based on the sublime skills of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. They combined to create all three goals in a rampant opening period.

And the Spanish star completed the rout with his second goal of the game on 77 minutes. It was a performance that left fans wondering how a side capable of such quality could have struggled so badly this season.

The answer is perhaps found in the identity of Liverpool’s third goalscorer – and the formation selected by manager Benitez.

Alberto Aquilani scored his first goal for Liverpool since his much-heralded arrival for £20million in the summer.

The decision to finally give him the freedom to play in an advanced midfield role was instrumental in a more attack-minded line-up.

Too often this season they have been consumed by self-doubt that is derived from a negative attitude their defensive formation inspires. Last night Aquilani was given license to roam forward, and he responded by subtly pulling the strings to give Gerrard and Torres the supply they have so badly craved, and so badly lacked.

The result was three goals in six first-half minutes.

Yet Liverpool began with a real sense of fear. And it didn’t help that referee Stuart Attwell denied them an early penalty that would have calmed their nerves.

The Reds won a succession of free-kicks down the right flank, and one of a number of beautifully-flighted deliveries from Gerrard found Torres lurking.

His shot was clearly blocked by the right hand of Ricardo Rocha, and it seemed only the referee missed the obvious offence.

But only another poor decision from Attwell stopped Frederic Piquionne in his tracks after racing clear. He was penalised for an apparent foul on Daniel Agger when the contact was accidental and minimal.

Liverpool’s opener was not without a hint of good fortune. But it was a goal that inspired a dazzling spell of football.

It was a spell of just six minutes around the half hour-mark in which they scored three goals and played as good a period of football as they have all season –  which is not actually saying that much. They were rampant, with Gerrard and Torres in particular showing their class.

The skipper chased a lost cause into the box and managed to charge down a clearance from Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown.

The ball fell kindly to Maxi Rodriguez who showed the presence of mind to feed Torres and the striker fired into an open goal. Where Liverpool had been laboured and afraid, they were now fluent and fearless. Two minutes later their lead was doubled.

Glen Johnson crossed from the right, Torres danced into the box to feed Ryan Babel who produced a top-drawer finish that served to emphasise his promise and frustration in equal measure. On 32 minutes, the game was over and the whole of Anfield was engulfed with relief.

It was the Gerrard-Torres combination which inspired one more, with a glorious interchange that eventually allowed Aquilani to finally score his first goal for the club.

Torres added another in the second half, finishing clinically from a clever Aquilani pass before Nadir Belhadj netted a late consolation.



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