Source: Team_Talk
Nando nets as Reds see off Rovers
Fernando Torres ended his six-match goal drought with the winner as Liverpool beat Blackburn 2-1 to provide a much-needed boost at Anfield.[LNB] Goalkeeper Paul Robinson had kept the Reds at bay in Sunday's Premier League encounter until Sotirios Kyrgiakos' 48th-minute header and although a Jamie Carragher own goal quickly levelled things up, Torres struck only his second of the season soon after.[LNB]It ended a run of seven matches without a victory in all competitions and although it was still not enough to lift Liverpool out of the bottom three, the result came as a welcome relief.[LNB]Torres, starved of service, has looked woefully out of form with his only previous goal coming in the 1-0 home win over West Brom at the end of August.[LNB]However, if the Spain international could have chosen any team to play against, it would have been Rovers, against whom he has now scored five times in their last four meetings.[LNB]And it can be no coincidence Liverpool's only two Premier League victories have been as a result of Torres applying the decisive finish.[LNB]It was the very least representatives of New England Sports Ventures, in the crowd after their £300million buy-out just over a week ago, will have wanted to see.[LNB]It may have been for their benefit that there was a guest appearance by Gerry Marsden to sing a live rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' in front of the Kop.[LNB]The change in the pre-match routine appeared to have the desired effect on Liverpool but, although it was as positive a first half as they had put in under manager Roy Hodgson, it still failed to produce a goal.[LNB]That was in part due to Robinson, who was at his sharpest to deny the hosts on several occasions.[LNB]His best save came in only the eighth minute when Torres' ball around the corner to Maxi Rodriguez saw the Argentina international cross low for Joe Cole but his first-time shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and a stretching Raul Meireles drove the rebound wide.[LNB]Kyrgiakos's header from Steven Gerrard's corner was also kept out by Robinson, with the goalkeeper then diving to his left to deny Gerrard who had launched a quick counter-attack from a Rovers corner.[LNB]Blackburn were content to sit back but their task was made slightly more difficult when they lost defensive midfielder Steven Nzonzi to a hamstring injury.[LNB]The Red tide continued up to half-time with a Meireles piledriver pole-axing Michel Salgado and Lucas Leiva just failing to get his header on target from Kyrgiakos' flick-on of Gerrard's resulting corner.[LNB]After the interval Benjani Mwaruwari came on for Nikola Kalinic but the second half was only three minutes old when Liverpool finally took the lead.[LNB]Kyrgiakos had been a threat in the air all afternoon and when he rose to powerfully meet Gerrard's corner Martin Olsson could not keep the ball from going into the net.[LNB]Two minutes later it should have been 2-0 as Robinson only half-saved Rodriguez's header from Gerrard's quickly-taken corner and Kyrgiakos appeared to be fouled by Phil Jones in challenging for the rebound.[LNB]The ball dropped to Rodriguez but his effort was charged down.[LNB]Such has been Liverpool's luck this season that Rovers went straight down the other end and scored as Paul Konchesky's goalline clearance from El-Hadji Diouf's shot cannoned back off Carragher and into the net.[LNB]But a sign the Reds' fortunes were changing came in the 53rd minute when Torres ghosted in at the far post to side-foot home Cole's cross.[LNB]Cole was replaced by David Ngog with 11 minutes remaining but it was Blackburn who were the ones pushing for the next goal.[LNB]It was not entirely comfortable for Liverpool, who were restricted to the counter-attack with one Gerrard pass almost picking out Torres, but they found the resilience which had been missing for most of the season.[LNB]Hodgson had described the match as "must win". His side did that and, despite their lowly position, are just six points from fifth-placed Tottenham.[LNB]However, they are going to have to build on this by putting a run of good results together if their campaign is really going to turn a corner.[LNB]Hodgson, whose position has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, is not out of the woods yet.
