An injury-time Fernando Torres goal earned Liverpool a 3-2 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Spaniard's late goal rescues a win for much-changed Liverpool
An injury-time Fernando Torres goal saw Liverpool return to the top of the Premier League with a 3-2 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Liverpool, who have now played two games more than second-placed Manchester United, travelled to the South Coast well aware that three points would see them wrestle top spot back from the defending champions.
But the Reds' under-fire manager Rafa Benitez raised a few eyebrows with his team selection - dropping star striker Torres to the bench and naming a defensive back three of Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger.
The visitors, who were without injured captain Steven Gerrard, settled into the new strategy imposed by their boss and had the best chance of the first half as Fabio Aurelio went close with a free-kick.
Pompey improved after the interval and were rewarded when David Nugent slotted the home side in front from former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch's 62nd minute pass.
Liverpool, though, were back on level terms seven minutes later as Aurelio superbly smashed in a 20-yard indirect free-kick to ignite hopes of returning to Merseyside with three points.
Benitez introduced Torres as the former Valencia boss pushed for a winner, but seconds later Pompey were back in front as Hermann Hreidarsson headed past Jose Reina with 12 minutes remaining from a Nadir Belhadj set-play.
Tony Adams' side looked set to hang on for the win, but substitute Kuyt - who had replaced David N'Gog - took advantage of some poor Pompey defending to fire an equaliser past David James from a tight angle in the 85th minute.
And then in time added on at the end of the 90 minutes, Torres headed past James to send Liverpool back to top spot.
Cameo
Torres was tired towards the end of the midweek FA Cup defeat to Everton and has international duty this week when Spain face England - but he was still fit enough to be among the substitutes at Fratton Park.
His cameo has put the psychological pressure on United as Liverpool overtake Sir Alex Ferguson's men at the summit before their match at West Ham this weekend.
The spotlight was inevitably on Benitez for his brave move.
He offloaded Robbie Keane back to Tottenham, then saw talisman Steven Gerrard injured with a hamstring strain - so resting a match-winner like Torres for 75 minutes was a huge gamble.
Keane would have been almost certain to have played against Pompey if he was still at the club, but instead French youngster Ngog endured a miserable first league start.
Torres was not the only change, with Benitez radically altering his team and leaving the likes of Albert Riera, Xabi Alonso and Kuyt on the bench.
But Pompey were still struggling for confidence as they looked to end a run of failing to win a league game since November - and even a second string Liverpool were bound to create chances.
Pompey goalkeeper David James, equalling Gary Speed's Premier League record of 535 appearances, was left stranded when Liverpool put their first purposeful move together.
Alvaro Arbeloa's cross from the right found Yossi Benayoun unmarked in the penalty area but his finish went into the side-netting after James had slipped.
Reward
James would have had no chance either when Aurelio's free-kick curled just wide of the upright. The Brazilian was off target again in the 17th minute when Ngog's cross found its way behind the Pompey defence.
Javier Mascherano is not known for his goalscoring but he had James at full stretch when he was given room 30 yards from goal, with the Pompey stopper diverting the effort for a corner.
Ngog's evening came to an end before the hour mark, with Kuyt brought on for the visitors - and it nearly brought an instant reward.
Benayoun breezed past Hreidarsson and Sylvain Distin before laying the ball off to Kuyt. The substitute crossed to leave an open goal for Ryan Babel from three yards out - but the winger somehow managed to nutmeg himself as he finished when offside.
Nugent made Liverpool pay with his 62nd-minute opener. Crouch had held the ball up before playing a reverse ball to his strike partner, who slotted his finish calmly past Reina.
It was a sweet strike for the Evertonian, who taunted Liverpool fans in the first half about their FA Cup defeat this week.
Liverpool's way back into the match came after an awful backpass from Crouch. James had to handle to stop Kuyt from finishing, with Webb alert to the offence.
Alonso, on as a substitute, tapped the ball for Aurelio to smash into the bottom corner.
Kuyt had the ball in the net but was harshly given offside after racing onto Aurelio's throughball.
Torres came on for the last quarter of an hour for Babel, but Pompey were ahead again with 12 minutes remaining.
Belhadj swung over a free-kick after Glen Johnson was fouled, with Hreidarsson losing his marker and heading past a wrong-footed Reina.
Kuyt levelled in the 85th minute after Torres crossed from the right and the Dutchman finished into James' near post.
Then came the final twist, with Torres' powerful header from Benayoun's cross finding a way past James.
| Portsmouth |
Team Statistics |
Liverpool |
| 2 |
Goals |
3 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 2 |
Corners |
4 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 67.4 |
Passing Success |
77.8 |
| 20 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 75 |
Tackles Success |
57.7 |
| 43.1 |
Possession |
56.9 |
| 47.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.9 |
|
