9:18am Tuesday 16th March 2010
Liverpool 4 Portsmouth 1
ALBERTO Aquilani finally found a performance to justify his £17million price tag, capping a masterful display with his first Liverpool goal in a 4-1 win over Portsmouth at Anfield.
The summer signing, brought in after Xabi Alonso’s sale to Real Madrid, has struggled to adapt to life in England but was at the heart of everything in only his fifth Premier League start.
Fernando Torres scored twice, with Ryan Babel and Aquilani adding goals in between his strikes, before Nadir Belhadj hit a late consolation.
It was the first time since they beat Hull 6-1 on September 26 that Liverpool had scored more than two goals in a league match and that helped lift them to fifth in the table, a point behind Spurs having played one match more.
However, of their three assignments this week – they face Lille on Thursday trailing 1-0 in the Europa League before heading to Old Trafford on Sunday – this was by far the easiest.
Strangely, Liverpool had not won on a Monday evening in their last nine attempts, with five draws and four defeats.
Their most recent victory came with Gary McAllister’s last-minute free-kick at Everton in April 2001.
They made the breakthrough they were so desperate for in the 26th minute.
It was with more than a slice of good fortune, however, and came courtesy of goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown, making only his fourth appearance this season because of David James’ calf injury.
Ashdown drilled Ricardo Rocha’s back-pass straight at Gerrard and the ball dropped to Maxi Rodriguez, who squared for Torres to roll a shot into the empty net.
Two minutes later Glen Johnson’s cross to the far post dropped to Torres, who turned Steve Finnan before slipping a pass inside for Babel to poke home.
In the 32nd minute the goal that all Anfield – and Aquilani – had hoped for came when Gerrard played in Torres, who crossed back for his captain to dummy and allow his team-mate to fire home in front of the Kop.
Gerrard departed in the 74th minute, having just been involved in a clash with Michael Brown in which the captain appeared to thrust an arm across his opponent’s head. The FA look certain to investigate the incident, and Gerrard could face a three game ban.
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