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  • Gerrard (62), Benayoun (70)
  • Date:2009-12-26
  • Kick-off:17:30
  • Venue:Anfield
  • Attendance:41956
  • Referee:Marriner, A

Live Commentary

90mins

Full time at Anfield, with Liverpool happy to have picked up a vital win

90mins

Elokobi heads away strongly from Gerrard's cross

90mins

Liverpool are playing possession football at the moment; the players sense all three points are theirs

90mins

Four minutes of added time to play at the end of the second half

87mins

Jay Spearing comes on in place of Benayoun

87mins

Torres tries to find Benayoun after good work from Pacheco but Berra does well to follow the run of Benayoun

84mins

Pacheco finds Torres in the box. He tries to pass the ball to Kuyt with a cheeky flick of the heel but makes a mess of it

83mins

Daniel Pacheco comes on for Aquilani. He has shown some nice touches today and is given a standing ovation by the Kop

82mins

Stearman finds Mancienne in space but Liverpool press the Wolves players and force them back into their own half

81mins

Gerrard whips a dangerous cross in but Hahnemann, who has done well today, comes out to make a good catch

78mins

Liverpool fans will be happy to see Rafa Benitez keeping Gerrard and Torres together on the pitch despite their comfortable lead

77mins

Johnson crosses well but Benayoun's header goes over the crossbar

75mins

Dirk Kuyt replaces Aurelio

73mins

Benayoun runs past Elokobi and tries to pick out Torres but the ball runs harmlessly through to Hahnemann

71mins

Very disappointing for Wolves to concede that second goal. The sending off was decisive in this game

69mins

Benayoun's shot is deflected off Henry and past Hahnemann to hand Liverpool their second goal of the game

68mins

Liverpool surge forward with Gerrard. He finds Aquilani, who miscontrols the ball

65mins

Chris Iwelumo comes on for Ebanks-Blake

64mins

Elokobi clears a cross from Insua

63mins

Liverpool are bombing forward now, trying to get their second goal of the game

61mins

Michael Mancienne comes on for Milijas

61mins

Gerrard powers in a header after a great ball by Insua. Brilliant header from the midfielder

59mins

Torres miscontrols the ball horribly from the corner after being set up well by Insua

58mins

Benayoun tries to get past Elokobi but the Wolves man does well to stand firm and concede a corner

57mins

Doyle makes way for George Elokobi, with Mick McCarthy perhaps looking forward to Wolves' next game

55mins

Gerrard's drive is blocked well after great work from Torres

53mins

Gerrard takes the resulting free kick but Foley heads away well. Wolves break with Ebanks-Blake before Johnson clears the ball

52mins

Ward shoves Lucas to the ground and looks about to collect his second yellow of the game. The referee books Berra instead, much to the frustration of the Liverpool players. Eventually, the referee realises his mistake and shows Ward a second yellow

50mins

Gerrard goes for goal from the edge of the box but Hahnemann saves well down to his left

50mins

Ebanks-Blake runs forward before crossing to Milijas. The ball isn't quite accurate enough in the end

48mins

Aurelio's free kick is well saved by Hahnemann

47mins

Ward picks up the first booking of the game for a foul on Benayoun

47mins

Aquilani sends in a fantastic ball but Benayoun fails to capitalise on the chance. Brilliant cross from Aquilani

45mins

The second half is underway at Anfield

45mins

The whistle blows for half time

44mins

Johnson's shot is saved well by Hahnemann after the ball bounced off Jarvis and straight to the Liverpool defender

44mins

Johnson's drive from 30 yards out hits Berra and falls to Aurelio

43mins

Aquilani finds Johnson on the right. He cuts inside but is tackled brilliantly by Ebanks-Blake

41mins

Lucas drives the ball goalwards. The ball is deflected off Foley for a corner, which Gerrard wastes

39mins

Lucas drives the ball wide

38mins

Ward finds Foley in the box. He thinks about the shot but ends up pulling the ball back to Ebanks-Blake, who can't quite reach it

37mins

Lucas finds Aurelio, who plays the ball to Johnson. He tries some neat play with Aquilani but Wolves do well in defence

37mins

Torres is still moaning to the referee about how he's being treated by the Wolves defenders

35mins

Ward plays the ball to Ebanks-Blake, who falls over, allowing Aquilani to break forward for Liverpool. The ball goes out of play to cap a scrappy couple of minutes

34mins

Frustration around Anfield at the moment. Liverpool have enjoyed plenty of possession but have let Wolves back into this game

32mins

Karl Henry finds Richard Stearman, who eventually finds Ebanks-Blake. Agger is fouled after trying to get the ball back for Liverpool

29mins

Torres has the ball in the back of the net but he's flagged offside from Gerrard's pass

26mins

Gerrard pulls the ball back to Torres on the edge of the box but he curls his attempt wide under pressure from Berra

25mins

Milijas drives from the edge of the box but his attempt goes wide. Wolves have started to grow in confidence during the last few minutes

24mins

Doyle has a great chance to score from a Milijas cross but he gets too much on the ball in the end

23mins

Milijas tries to catch Reina (who seems slightly out of position) out from a free kick but the goalkeeper does well to tip the ball over the bar

21mins

Jarvis runs into space and gets past Johnson brilliantly. He passes to Ebanks-Blake, whose shot is saved by Jose Manuel Reina

19mins

Jody Craddock and Torres clash. The Spaniard wants a free kick but won't get one for that

17mins

Nenad Milijas drives the ball high and wide into the Kop

16mins

Daniel Agger runs into acres of space before finding Emiliano Insua, who plays the ball into the box. It bounces around dangerously before going behind for a Liverpool corner

14mins

Carragher finds Benayoun, who plays the ball to Aquilani. It eventually falls to Torres, who falls down on the edge of the box. The referee remains unconvinced and fails to blow the whistle for a foul

12mins

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake holds the ball up well and then tries to find Jarvis but Carragher does well to hold him off and let the ball run out of play

11mins

Aurelio's free kick is aimed towards Torres, whose header is badly misjudged

9mins

Christophe Berra holds off Torres as Carragher tries to play him in

8mins

Liverpool are really piling on the pressure now, with Wolves struggling to keep them at bay

7mins

Torres finds space in the box after twisting and turning brilliantly. His stinging shot is saved well by Hahnemann

6mins

Alberto Aquilani finds Lucas Leiva, who passes well to Gerrard. The midfielder's shot is saved nicely by Hahnemann

5mins

Glen Johnson is found by Jamie Carragher with an inch-perfect pass. Johnson shoots across goal and should really have done better from that position

4mins

Yossi Benayoun finds Steven Gerrard but Stephen Ward does well to clear the ball

2mins

Matt Jarvis turns into the box after good work from Kevin Doyle but the Liverpool defence eventually clear the ball

1mins

Fernando Torres goes down a little easily 40 yards out and Fabio Aurelio takes the resultant free kick. Marcus Hahnemann makes a comfortable save

1mins

Referee Andre Marriner gets the game underway at Anfield

0mins

Alberto Aquilani starts his first Premier League game for Liverpool, with Mick McCarthy naming a strong Wolves side

Match Preview

Liverpool entertain Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day after yet another demoralising Premier League setback at basement boys Portsmouth last Saturday.

The Reds lost 2-0 at Fratton Park and to make matter worse, Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano was shown a straight red card for a crude lunge on Tal Ben-Haim and he will now miss the next four games.

Manager Rafael Benitez will be eager for 2009 to come to a close as soon as possible as his side sit in eighth place and well off the pace at both the top of the table and the Champions League places.

They are also out of the Champions League after a disastrous group campaign and they will need to rally and come out fighting in order to rectify their current situation.

Just two wins in their last eight league games is simply not good enough for the five-time European champions and with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard back in first-team contention, they need to get back to winning ways.

On the injury front, Albert Riera faces a race against time to feature following a hamstring injury.

Mick McCarthy's Wolves will have no reason to fear their more illustrious opponents.

They have won three of their last four Premier League outings, including a heroic 1-0 success at Tottenham Hotspur, and they have been invigorated by their recent form.

Big-money summer signing Kevin Doyle has been amongst the goals and he will relish playing on the big stage at Anfield.

Only a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United has blemished their recent results, but this is no disgrace losing to the current holders.


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Match Report

Steven Gerrard bagged his first goal in open play since September as Liverpool ended their 2009 Anfield campaign on a high with a hard-fought win over ten-man Wolves.

Wolves, who had collected nine points from their last four matches, more than matched a Liverpool side that was shorn of confidence, having lost seven times in the league already this season.

But with Fernando Torres and Gerrard in Rafa Benitez's starting line-up and with Stephen Ward given his marching orders for two yellow cards, the under-fire Reds turned up the heat.

Gerrard thumped a header home on 62 minutes before Yossi Benayoun added a second when his shot deflected off Karl Henry and past the helpless Marcus Hahnemann.

It was Wolves that started the match the brighter and Republic of Ireland international striker Kevin Doyle had a glorious chance to open the scoring on 23 minutes, only to head over from close range when completely unmarked.

Serbia's Nenad Milijas then whistled a stinging effort just past the post on the half-hour mark as the tension among the Anfield faithful grew.

Liverpool began the second half with greater urgency and Gerrard stung the palms of Hahnemann just nine minutes after the break.

Two minutes later, Ward collected a second booking for a desperate lunge on Lucas Leiva, which handed the impetus to Benitez's men.

And it took the Reds less than ten minutes to make their numerical advantage count as Gerrard rose highest to meet Emiliano Insua's cross as he powered home his fifth league goal of the season.

With the wind in their sails Liverpool turned things up a gear and found themselves two goals to the good on 70 minutes when Benayoun picked up the loose ball, cut inside and unleashed a shot which took a wicked deflection off Henry.

Gerrard then saw a late long-range effort just miss the target as Liverpool eventually ran out comfortable winners.

Liverpool

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Corners

71

Fouls

910

Goal attempts

135

Shots off target

54

Offsides

30

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