BOLTON, England, Oct 31, (AFP): Liverpool climbed out of the relegation zone here Sunday after a moment of class from Fernando Torres set up a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Bolton.
In a game full of intent but precious little quality, Maxi Rodriguez latched on to a clever Torres backheel in the 86th minute to slot past Jussi Jaaskelainen to grab all three points.
It earned under-fire Reds boss Roy Hodgson his first back-to-back Premier League victories as Liverpool’s season finally seems to have gathered some positive momentum.
For long periods though it looked as if Liverpool would be in for another desperately disappointing afternoon as they sought to build on last week’s win over Blackburn only to frustrated.
Torres had Liverpool’s best early opportunity as he charged through on goal but could not poke the ball past Jaaskelainen.
That followed an earlier chance when he headed a Steven Gerrard cross over the bar in a promising opening for the Spanish striker, who manager Hodgson last week denied was leaving the club.
It was a bright beginning from both sides, particularly Liverpool who had lost just three times to Bolton in their previous 22 engagements.
Joe Cole and Paul Konchesky combined to good effect down the left wing on several occasions early on with Cole starting to show glimpses of the form that made him a Chelsea favourite before his summer move to Anfield.
For most of the early stages Bolton barely saw the ball as Liverpool’s midfield dominated possession but that did not translate into chances. In fact, Bolton boss Owen Coyle will have been pleased with the way his side managed to snuff out the odd occasion that Liverpool did manage to get inside the opposition’s box.
The closest Bolton got to scoring came when Stuart Holden struck a wonderful volley from outside the box but although he caught his left footed effort sweetly, Pepe Reina was equal to the task to prevent the American from breaking the deadlock.
After 25 minutes, Bolton felt they deserved a penalty when Lee Chung-Yong seemed to be fouled in the box by Jamie Carragher but Martin Atkinson waved away Wanderers frantic appeals for a spot-kick.
The game took a nosedive once the half hour mark arrived as the early tempo was lost. Fabrice Muamba’s long-range effort briefly threatened Liverpool’s goal but drifted wide while Gerrard also failed to hit the target after great build up work from Cole and Maxi Rodriguez gave him a good shooting opportunity from outside the box.
Newcastle 5, Sunderland 1
Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan scored a hat-trick as the Magpies eased the pressure on manager Chris Hughton with a 5-1 rout of bitter northeast rivals Sunderland.
Nolan’s treble and two goals from striker Shola Ameobi sealed a one-sided victory for newly promoted Newcastle as 10-man Sunderland suffered a halloween horror story at St James Park. A wretched afternoon for the Black Cats also saw former Newcastle defender Titus Bramble given a straight red card early in the second half for a trip on Andy Carroll, much to the delight of the Toon Army.
The victory saw Newcastle move up to seventh place in the Premier League standings with 14 points from 10 games and should quell intense speculation prior to the game that Hughton faced the sack.
Nolan struck in the 26th, 34th and 75th minutes while Ameobi slotted goals in each half to leave Steve Bruce’s Sunderland shellshocked.
Villa 0, Birmingham 0
In London, Aston Villa and Birmingham fought out a 0-0 draw as the latest instalment of their fierce local rivalry ended in stalemate at Villa Park.
England winger Ashley Young saw a shot hit the woodwork in the closing minutes before Birmingham’s towering striker Nikola Zigic sent a glancing header just wide in injury time.
The result left the midlands rivals in the same positions in the Premier League standings, Villa in 12th spot with 12 points from 10 matches, Birmingham one point behind in 13th place.
A goal-less first-half saw Birmingham finish the stronger, with Alex Hleb and Craig Gardner gradually starting to cause problems for Villa from midfield after the home side started brightly.
The major talking point came when Birmingham had strong appeals for a penalty turned down after a bouncing ball struck Nigel Reo-Coker’s arm in full view of World Cup final referee Howard Webb.
Birmingham had carved out the first half chance, Craig Gardner rifling in a shot from inside the box which Villa defender James Collins blocked.
Villa had threatened sporadically, Young just failing to pick out Emile Heskey with a low pass into the box which was gathered safely by Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Gardner meanwhile was the first player to find his way into Webb’s notebook, receiving a caution after only 12 minutes for a clumsy lunge on Reo-Coker.
Zigic was the next to see yellow, booked on 39 minutes for throwing an arm into the face of Collins.
Villa defender Stephen Warnock received the third yellow card of the opening 45 minutes on the stroke of half-time, sliding in recklessly on Hleb.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, both sides swapping low shots from distance but largely cancelling each other out in midfield.
Gardner saw a low shot easily held by Brad Friedel before Reo-Coker’s 20-yard effort was blocked by Foster.
Reo-Coker was booked midway through the half after clashing with Gardner and Barry Ferguson shortly before Villa substitute Barry Bannan saw a curling shot pawed away by Foster.
With the clock running down, Villa pressed hard for a winner and could have snatched all three points when Young breezed past Liam Ridgewell before sending a shot crashing against the angle of the post and cross bar.
Zigic also had a chance for Birmingham in the closing moments, but just failed to get enough on his header from a teasing free-kick Sebastian Larsson.