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After beating Manchester United last weekend, Bolton have been brought back to reality after a crushing 4-0 defeat against Liverpool. Goals from Sami Hyypia, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel move The Reds into third and push Bolton back down towards the bottom three. The hosts began the stronger of the two sides with Harry Kewell and Yossi Benayoun causing problems for the Bolton defence. Peter Crouch could have given Liverpool an early lead but Ricardo Gardner was alert to clear off the line, before Torres forced Jussi Jaaskelainen into action from close-range. Bolton though weren't to be over-run and looked good from set-pieces. El-Hadji Diouf's corner was flicked on by Abdoulaye Meite which forced desperate defending from the home side as they hacked the ball from danger. But it was Liverpool who were to score from a set-piece. Steven Gerrard's pin-point free-kick was met by the head of Sami Hyypia who beat his fellow countryman Jaaskelainen to open the scoring. The visitors were failing to create any real danger and The Reds looked likely to double their advantage, first Crouch headed over and then Kewell's snap-shot was just wide as they continually threatened to open up the Wanderers defence. Gary Megson's side though did create a very good opportunity of their own soon after, with Kevin Davies working himself into space before putting the ball across the face of the Jose Reina's goal, but Alvaro Arbeloa reacted quickest and cleared the danger. On 38 minutes, Bolton should but somehow didn't equalise. A collision between Jamie Carragher and Reina allowed Nicolas Anelka to have a free run on goal, but he somehow put his effort wide of the empty goal from 12 yards. He was made to rue the miss just before the break as the hosts doubled their lead. Gerrard hit a 60-yard ball over the top of the Wanderers defence to sent Torres into the clear and chip over Jaaskelainen for his 12th goal of the season. Gerrard nearly made it three himself just after the break, but his excellent run and shot was deflected to safety by Jaaskelainen. But the Liverpool captain didn't have to wait long to get on the scoresheet. Crouch was fouled by Meite in the area and Gerrard sent Jaaskelainen the wrong way with the resulting penalty to give the hosts a three goal advantage. Anelka attempted to make amends for his earlier miss on the hour, but his snap-shot was well saved by Reina as any hope of a result seemed to go. Substitute Ryan Babel completed the scoring with six minutes to go, picking up on a ball from Gerrard and firing past Jaaskelainen to give the hosts a more than deserving 4-0 victory. Babel almost made it five in stoppage time but his effort was headed off the line by Meite. The Wanderers fans were relieved to hear Steve Bennett blow for full-time, the result leaves them hovering just above the relegation zone, whilst Benitez's side move up to third in the Premier League. Megson will be hoping his side can bounce back from defeat in Thursday's UEFA Cup tie with Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade. |
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