Benayoun belter sees Reds go top

04 April 2009 19:00
Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League after Yossi Benayoun's injury-time strike earned the Reds a crucial 1-0 victory at Fulham.Rafael Benitez's men dominated the Craven Cottage encounter but wasted chance after chance until substitute Benayoun popped up in injury-time to smash the ball past Mark Schwarzer to send the travelling fans delirious.The Israeli's strike sees his side overtake Manchester United at the top of the Premier League, ahead of the Red Devils' tricky test against Aston Villa on Sunday.Liverpool dominated the first period but failed to find the breakthrough, despite rattling Schwarzer's woodwork on four separate occasions.Andrea Dossena diverted Martin Skrtel's shot against the bar in the 10th minute, moments after the Italian defender's shot with the outside of his foot was tipped over by Schwarzer, while the Fulham keeper also had to get down smartly to his left to parry Fernando Torres' side-footed effort to safety midway through the half.Xabi Alonso's volley from the outside of the box crashed against the bar after Fulham had only half-cleared a 32nd-minute corner, shortly before Torres rolled an effort against the foot of the post after the prolific Spaniard had been sent clear of the hosts' defence by a sublime pass from Steven Gerrard.The visitors then hit the woodwork for the third time in five minutes when Gerrard's curling cross was headed against the bar by Dossena from close range.Liverpool's domination continued into the second half, which was eight minutes old when Torres wasted a free-header from eight yards with Schwarzer comfortably gathering the hitman's tame effort.John Pantsil cleared the ball from under his own crossbar after a swift Liverpool counter-attack culminated in substitute Ryan Babel's shot across goal with 20 minutes remaining, while Schwarzer did well to parry away Gerrard's curling cross with three red shirts waiting to pounce.Any hopes the hosts had of snatching an unlikely point were almost ended by some comical defending in the 81st minute, when Paul Konchesky presented the ball to Gerrard, whose cross-shot was flicked inches wide by Benayoun.The Israeli midfielder then wasted an 89th-minute opportunity as he shot into the side-netting at the near post but Benayoun made-up for his profligacy by crashing home the winner in the second minute of added time to send Liverpool to the summit of the Premier League.[LNB]

Source: Eurosport