Liverpool 2 - 1 Bolton

Joe Cole came off the bench to score a contested late winner as Liverpool fought back from a goal down to seal a much-needed win over Bolton at Anfield.
Under-fire Reds boss Roy Hodgson cut a dejected figure as Kevin Davies headed Bolton in front just before half-time.
Liverpool replied shortly after the break when Fernando Torres volleyed home from Steven Gerrard's pass.
Cole was introduced on 82 minutes and tapped in at the death from what seemed an offside position to grab the points.
The result sees Liverpool pull six points clear of the relegation zone, rising from 12th to ninth, while Bolton drop to seventh.
It was a dramatic end to a tense encounter and although Bolton may complain bitterly about Cole's strike, Liverpool are sure to toast a crucial three points.
Hodgson's men came into the match under huge pressure following Wednesday's shock defeat by Wolves.
That left the Reds perilously close to the bottom three and confirmed they would enter 2011 on their lowest points tally since the 1953/54 season, which ended in relegation.
The home fans turned on the manager during the Wolves loss and reports on Saturday suggested the Anfield hierarchy were already considering replacements should they decide to sack the 63-year-old.
All of this surely made the game an absolute must-win for Liverpool and, having won 10 of their previous 11 home Premier League meetings with Bolton, the omens were good.
Captain Gerrard dropped to the bench after playing 90 minutes in midweek following six weeks out with a calf injury, but his side got off to an encouraging start - Torres looking particularly lively.
And the Spaniard was at the heart of a move that saw Liverpool threaten to open the scoring, his shot deflecting to the back post where Maxi Rodriguez volleyed across goal and Matt Taylor slid in to avert the danger.
As the half wore on, there was a distinct sense of nervousness around the ground and Bolton, who travelled with a squad of only 15 players, slowly began to grow in confidence.
An injury to Raul Meireles meant Gerrard was introduced on 21 minutes but it was the visitors who appeared more likely to break the deadlock, with Taylor curling a free-kick narrowly wide from 25 yards and Zat Knight heading wide from Johan Elmander's cross.
There seemed a greater urgency about Liverpool with Gerrard on the pitch and they were denied by the woodwork when a Maxi header from Dirk Kuyt's right-wing centre looped on to the crossbar.
Yet Bolton were holding out fairly comfortably and their day got a whole lot better when Kevin Davies pounced shortly before half-time for the Trotters' first goal at Anfield since 2003.
Fabio Aurelio, starting his first league match this season in place of Paul Konchesky, fouled Rodrigo Moreno on the Bolton right and Davies muscled his way ahead of Glen Johnson to power home Taylor's inviting free-kick.
It was a goal that drew anger from the terraces but Liverpool should have been level within a couple of minutes, with Leiva Lucas prodding wide from a Kuyt cross when it looked harder to miss than score.
Fortunately for the hosts, an equaliser was forthcoming just after the break.
David Ngog laid Johnson's chipped pass to Gerrard, who floated a delightful ball over the top for Torres to expertly volley past Jussi Jaaskelainen and send the Kop into raptures.
Liverpool now had the wind in their sails and Torres came close to giving his side the lead. The Spaniard was released by Gerrard and cut in from the left before fizzing a low effort narrowly wide of the far post.
Jaaskelainen then stood tall to deny Gerrard and although the rebound appeared to strike Mark Davies on the arm, referee Kevin Friend waved away Liverpool's appeals for a penalty.
Liverpool continued to probe and Torres volleyed wide from another accurate Gerrard cross, while at the other end Mark Davies shot powerfully at Pepe Reina in a rare Bolton attack.
But the pressure finally told as Gerrard's deep cross from the right was bundled towards goal by Maxi and Cole tapped in for his first league goal since joining Liverpool from Chelsea last summer.
Bolton's protests came to nothing and despite pushing for an even later equaliser - Reina saving well from substitute Ivan Klasnic - their efforts came to nothing.

Liverpool 2 - 0 Bolton

Liverpool FC great record against Bolton in Anfield continues.

Liverpool moved a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a win over Bolton at Anfield.
Bolton almost went ahead when Sotirios Kyrgiakos cleared a Chung-Yong Lee shot off the Reds goal-line.
But the home side took the lead after Alberto Aquilani nodded an Emiliano Insua cross back across goal and Dirk Kuyt scuffed in a shot.
David Ngog missed a great chance before Insua's shot deflected in off Kevin Davies to help secure a Reds victory.
The win extended Liverpool's unbeaten league run to six games and gave them extra satisfaction as Spurs were held to a draw by Birmingham.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had praised his side's recent defending and a back-to-basics approach that had seen them concede just once in their previous five league games.
Improving Liverpool please Benitez
But with a more stable defensive foundation and the need to make the most of their home games as they chase a top-four finish, Benitez fielded a more attacking side against Bolton and it eventually paid dividends.
Yet it was the visitors who quickly created the first chance. Tamir Cohen got goal side of Jamie Carragher but, by the time he got his shot off as he was pressured by the Reds right-back, keeper Pepe Reina had closed him down and gathered his poked effort.
Liverpool were guilty of too many misplaced passes and, although they saw plenty of the ball, there was a lack of cutting edge to their play as they failed to raise a subdued Anfield.
When the Reds did threaten, Kuyt failed to do enough to get on the end of an inviting Insua cross and was almost immediately punished.
Bolton's right-sided midfielder Lee picked up the ball on the halfway line and ran at the heart of a back-peddling Reds defence. With Cohen's run dragging Liverpool's defenders away, Lee rounded Reina and got a shot in which rugged centre-back Kyrgiakos did well to clear off the line.
Liverpool were looking unconvincing but still took the lead as Kuyt got his third goal in as many Premier League games.
Another dangerous Insua cross was nodded back across goal by Aquilani and, although Kuyt mistimed his shot, the ball still found its way into the Bolton net.
As Bolton pushed forward to try to get back into the game, Liverpool should have extended their lead after a swift counter-attack.
Steven Gerrard's shot from an Albert Riera cross was fended away by keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and fell to Ngog, who had a gaping goal in front of him but could only strike his shot into the ground and high off the top of the crossbar.
Jaaskelainen parried away a fierce Gerrard strike before further Liverpool pressure saw Insua's shot deflect off Kevin Davies, wrong-footing the Bolton keeper to extend the home side's lead.
Liverpool had gained a stranglehold of the game and, after an improvement following their second goal, could have added more as they secured a seventh straight win over Bolton.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez:"I am pleased with the result and the second half but not too happy with the first half - but at the end of the day we needed to win and we won.
"In the first half they had two chances and we were a little lucky but in the second half it was different and we could have scored more goals.
"I think we are improving. Clearly you can see the team is working hard."
Bolton boss Owen Coyle:"Tamir Cohen on another day might have had a penalty and Chung-Yong Lee had a terrific run (when his shot was cleared off the line).
"The second goal was a foul as Lucas (Leiva) has dragged Johan Elmander and wherever the shot (by Emiliano Insua) was going it wasn't going in.
"Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez will be delighted he's had the breaks today."

Liverpool 4-0 Bolton

Liverpool climbed to third after beating struggling Bolton at Anfield.
Steven Gerrard created both first-half goals, first sending over a free-kick that was headed in by Sami Hyypia.
After Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka missed an open goal, Gerrard rolled a pass into the path of Fernando Torres who chipped keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
The Liverpool captain added a third with a second-half penalty after Abdoulaye Meite fouled Peter Crouch, and Ryan Babel tapped in the fourth.
How Anelka failed to equalise when Bolton were trailing by a single goal, only the Frenchman will know.
The ball landed at Anelka's feet after Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher collided in trying to clear a Kevin Davies pass, but with the goal at his mercy the former Liverpool striker shot wide.
Had Anelka scored the course of this game might have been different, but Torres' goal a minute before half-time made Bolton's task of taking any points almost impossible.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez partnered Torres and Crouch in attack for the first time in the Premier League.
The two have played in the Carling Cup as well as the Champions League, but on the evidence of this game their attacking partnership remains very much a work in progress.
Torres, who received a huge ovation when he was taken off in the second half, completely overshadowed Crouch.
As well as winning the penalty, Crouch did go close in one of Liverpool's early attacks when his goal-bound shot was blocked on the line by Lubomir Michalik, but this was not one of his most effective games.
While Anelka endeared himself to his old club's fans with that awful miss, El-Hadji Diouf earned the opprobrium of the Anfield crowd with a horrendous tackle on Alvaro Arbeloa.
Diouf complained long and hard over the yellow card, but given the way he raked his studs down Arbeloa's leg the Senegalese player was lucky not to be sent off.
It was from a free-kick that Liverpool took the lead, Gerrard whipping over the ball and Hyypia getting the faintest of glances to beat Jaaskelainen with a header.
A minute before the interval Gerrard and Torres combined to punish Anelka's profligacy.
If Gerrard's curling pass to release Torres was exquisite, the Spaniard's finish probably bettered it.
Torres gently lifted the ball over the advancing Jaaskelainen, in a finish reminiscent of Kenny Dalglish's winning goal against Bruges in the European Cup final of 1978.
The second half proved a formality for Liverpool, with Crouch's emphatically taken penalty further extending their lead.
Just before being substituted Torres zigzagged his way past a succession of Bolton defenders, only to then send his shot over the bar.
Dirk Kuyt replaced Torres and the Dutchman played a key role in Liverpool's fourth goal.
Jaaskelainen was unable to hold Kuyt's shot and Babel had the simplest of jobs to roll the ball into the empty net.
Soon after Babel might have had a second goal, but Meite did well to head off the line.
Liverpool are still unbeaten in the Premier League, but their title credentials are likely to be given a more rigorous assessment in a fortnight when Manchester United travel to Anfield.
· Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez:"The team had confidence and you can see that in the number of chances we are creating.
"We're trying to keep the momentum, but we're in a good position, much better than last season.
"The second goal was important as it gave us more space and they had to change their shape."
· Bolton manager Gary Megson:"It was a poor day for us, but we will pick up ourselves up.
"There will be no knee-jerk reaction. Given Nicolas Anelka's status it was a poor miss, but there were many other things that didn't go for us.
"I'm most disappointed about the first goal as we didn't get our best headers on it. You learn from adversity and we'll see how we react to this."
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Carragher (Hobbs 51), Riise, Benayoun, Gerrard, Lucas, Kewell (Babel 67), Torres (Kuyt 76), Crouch.Subs Not Used: Itandje, Mascherano.
Goals: Hyypia 17, Torres 45, Gerrard 56 pen, Babel 86.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Samuel, Meite, Michalik, Gardner, McCann, Campo, Speed, Davies, Anelka, Diouf (Giannakopoulos 66).Subs Not Used: Al Habsi, Wilhelmsson, Teymourian, Alonso.
Booked: Diouf, Campo, Michalik.
Att: 43,270
Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent).