Bolton 2-3 Liverpool
A late winner by Emile Heskey gave Liverpool an important league win at Bolton this afternoon.
The first half took a while to get going and neither side were particularly quick to settle, but it was the home side who had the game's first chance.
From a corner, Par Frandsen had an effort on target for Bolton, but his fiercely hit shot was comfortably saved by Dudek.
Emile Heskey was next to try his luck, but after making enough space in which to get a shot on goal, Heskey scuffed his shot wide of the near post.
Both sides had further opportunities to open the scoring in the first half. Bolton's Dean Holdsworth looked certain to put his side ahead but completely missed the ball when attempting to shoot. Milan Baros looked just as sure to put the ball in the net just moments later, but with plenty of time and only Jaaskelainen to beat, he struck a shot across goal which bounced off the inside of the far post.
But Baros soon did net himself a debut goal, and it was worth waiting a little longer for.
After a run towards the Bolton goal, Dietmar Hamann released the ball to Cheyrou, who stepped over it and allowed the ball to run on to Baros, and the Czech international beat Simon Charlton and fired an unstoppable shot into the back of the Bolton net, with just seconds remaining of the first half.
Bolton were quickly level after the break though, thanks to a well taken goal by Jason Gardner and Ivan Campo should have done better with from a Bolton corner after he easily got in front of Diao just six yards from goal, but his free header was wide of goal.
It was to prove a costly miss by Bolton, with Milan Baros scoring his second of the game to restore Liverpool's lead.
Steve Gerrard provided a good cross into the area, and as the Bolton defence looked to play offside, Baros kept his eye on the ball and sent a well controlled volley pask Jaaskelainen after 72 minutes.
But with four minutes to go, it looked as if Liverpool would yet again lost a lead in the closing stages and be forced to settle for a single point, as Ivan Campo grabbed an 86th minute equaliser for the home side. A cross from Liverpool's right hand side landed at the feet of Campo, six yards from goal with only Dudek to beat. The Spanish defender made no mistake, putting his shot high into the net.
However, yhe goalscoring was not yet over and it was a Liverpool forward who was to gave the final say.
After a long kick forward by Dudek, Baros did well to win the ball in midfield, and after contributions from Gerrard, Murphy and Riise, the task of putting the ball into the Bolton goal fell to Emile Heskey and from 15 yards out and under pressure from the Bolton 'keeper, Heskey claimed his first of the season and ended the run of 2-2 draws which have had over the past three weeks.
After dominating the past three matches and finishing with only a draw to show for their efforts, it was perhaps ironic that when Liverpool finally did get back to winning ways, it was in a game where a draw would have been a fair result.
But that will not worry anyone at the club, and Liverpool took the three points needed to keep up with the pace at the top of the Premiership.
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