Liverpool left it late before clinching a 2-0 victory over Fulham to climb up to fourth in the Premier League.
Torres makes the difference as Liverpool win 2-0
Liverpool left it late before clinching a 2-0 victory over Fulham to climb up to fourth in the Premier League and cut the gap on Arsenal and Manchester United to three points.
Rafa Benitez named an unchanged side following Tuesday's record-breaking display against Besiktas in the UEFA Champions League, but it was substitute Fernando Torres who made the decisive contribution.
In a contest between the two draw specialists of the Premier League it looked as though the points would again be shared as Fulham battled hard to frustrate Liverpool, until the Spaniard stroked home a clever finish with just nine minutes remaining.
Steven Gerrard then made it 2-0 from the penalty spot five minutes from time, although Carlos Bocanegra appeared to bring down Peter Crouch just outside the area.
Quality
Benitez paid £20million for Torres to score goals like this, and in the end Fulham just could not cope with the quality that kept appearing from Liverpool's bench.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy tested Jose Reina after just 14 seconds from 20 yards, and the same player forced Reina into a diving save on 15 minutes.
Sami Hyypia forced Antti Niemi into a full-length save to his left and Gerrard saw a dipping 25 yarder flash over.
Aaron Hughes produced a fine last-ditch tackle to take the ball away from Crouch in the act of shooting, and Liverpool were finding it hard to create clear openings.
Murphy and Steven Davis were allowing little room for Liverpool's midfield to work in, while Shefki Kuqi and David Healy tirelessly toiled in attack for the visitors.
Crossbar
Crouch came closest in the first period when he hit the crossbar with a looping header from a Fabio Aurelio free-kick seconds from the break.
Two minutes into the second-half and Andriy Voronin forced Niemi into a low save to his right.
But Fulham's tackles and interceptions were still biting, and friendship meant nothing when Murphy tripped Gerrard from behind in full flow and was booked.
From the free-kick, Aurelio saw his fierce effort clawed away by Niemi, with Voronin firing the rebound over the top. Voronin then combined superbly with Crouch to burst into the box and see Niemi make another fine save.
Fulham took off Healy and sent on Hameur Bouazza to fill in a left-sided midfield role to contest the flow from Yossi Benayoun and Aurelio down that flank.
Liverpool responded by sending on Ryan Babel for Riise on 62 minutes.
His first involvement was to find Benayoun in space, but Niemi made another fine save from the Isreal international's lob. Benayoun's next touch was a fine pass into Voronin's stride, the Ukrainian's shot going just wide of the far post.
Voronin left the field soon after, a frustrated man after so many opportunities, to be replaced by Torres.
Miraculous
Fulham were now trying to hit on the break, attempting to turn an unlikely point into a miraculous victory.
Liverpool sent on Lucas for Javier Mascherano with 10 minutes left, and within a minute the home side were finally ahead.
There was nothing pretty about the build-up, a 60-yard clearance from Reina's hands.
But Torres took it down brilliantly, side-stepped his way into the box and cleverly clipped his shot inside Niemi's near post, leaving the 'keeper flat-footed.
Then on 85 minutes, Liverpool got their second. Bocanegra tripped Crouch on the edge of the box and Gerrard crashed home the spot-kick.
| Liverpool |
Team Statistics |
Fulham |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 11 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.6 |
Passing Success |
59.9 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
34 |
| 79.2 |
Tackles Success |
73.5 |
| 66.4 |
Possession |
33.6 |
| 54.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.2 |
|
