Source: Telegraph
Liverpool 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0: match report
When you have endured a start to the campaign like Liverpool's, even this will do. Wins are wins, particularly if you have recorded just four in your previous 17 matches, but Rafael Benítez's side had to wait until Wolverhampton Wanderers were reduced to 10 men for the goals to flow. [LNB]Steven Gerrard's performance was symptomatic of the team that he captains. Hardly back to his best, Gerrard struggled for the first hour before Stephen Ward was sent off, and the England midfielder then scored his first goal since Nov 9 before Yossi Benayoun added a second. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League tablePremier League actionTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesTransfer TalkSport on televisionBenítez remains unswerving in his belief that the top four will be reached, but it will take a better performance than this at Aston Villa on Tuesday to spark the run of wins that he insists his team is capable of. [LNB]More than five months after he was signed in a £20 million deal from Roma, Alberto Aquilani finally made his first start in the Premier League and the Italian started the game in a deep role alongside Lucas, with Gerrard supporting Fernando Torres. [LNB]After a misplaced early pass to Gerrard, Aquilani showed his determination not to be found wanting in the hustle of the Premier League, eagerly sliding into Karl Henry to feed Lucas, who picked out Gerrard, allowing his captain to force an early save from Marcus Hahnemann. [LNB]Fabio Aurelio had already tested the American with a dipping free-kick and Torres also brought a good save from the veteran goalkeeper after he had cut in from the left to drill a shot at the top corner. [LNB]Torres seemed to sum up Liverpool's frustrations when Aurelio's free-kick hit him on the side of the head and flew well wide of goal but although there was plenty of flow to their play, there was nothing to show for their early efforts. [LNB]Until that point, Wolves had been limited to a wild Nenad Milijas shot but threatened when Matthew Jarvis beat Glen Johnson down the left and crossed for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who held off Jamie Carragher and hit a shot on the turn that was saved by Pepe Reina. [LNB]A Milijas free-kick was then pushed over by Reina and from the Serb's corner that followed, Kevin Doyle failed to hit the target from five yards, despite losing his marker at the near post. [LNB]Benítez has discussed Gerrard's below-par form with the Liverpool captain but the midfielder was showing little improvement in his play with a string of poor passes, while crunching challenges on Ward and Jarvis hinted at his anger. [LNB]The hosts were becoming increasingly bogged down in midfield, with each piece of poor control greeted by even greater anxiety, a mood that Lucas's woeful long-distance drive did little to improve, and even Gerrard sent over a corner that swung out of play before it reached the area. [LNB]Glen Johnson had a low effort pushed away by Hahnemann before Daniel Agger scuffed well wide from long range. [LNB]Aurelio's delivery continued to frustrate after the restart, with an inswinging free-kick from the right flying straight into Hahnemann's hands. [LNB]But Gerrard at least gave the American a proper test with a low drive that bobbled before the former Reading goalkeeper pushed it wide of the post. [LNB]Liverpool's grim luck looked set to continue when Ward, who had already been booked for tugging Benayoun, tripped Lucas and referee Andre Marriner showed Christophe Berra a yellow card before considerable protests from the hosts led to him consulting his linesman and rightly sending off Ward. [LNB]Just after the hour mark, the breakthrough finally came, with Emiliano Insua overlapping well down the left and sending over a cross that saw Gerrard rise higher than Milijas to thump a header past Hahnemann. [LNB]Liverpool soon doubled their advantage when the previously anonymous Benayoun collected Aurelio's deep cross and steered the ball into the net thanks to George Elokobi'sdeflection. [LNB]
