Torres tips the balance for Benitez

13 April 2012

Fernando Torres changed the Anfield mood single-handedly with a wondergoal after 81 minutes of stubborn Fulham resistance.

Liverpool were stumbling towards a seventh draw in 12 games when the Spaniard, fit again after an abductor muscle injury, came off the bench in the 70th minute and promptly scored a brilliant individual effort.

Steve Gerrard's late penalty sealed the win and put Liverpool into the top four after heroics from visiting goalkeeper Antti Niemi had threatened to frustrate them.

For once, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez did the logical thing — and gave everyone a shock as a result. The side that beat Besiktas 8-0 on Tuesday night was kept intact, the first time in 60 games that Benitez had picked an unchanged team.

It meant hat-trick hero Yossi Benayoun — so important to England's Euro 2008 hopes next Saturday — was not dropped as a reward.

And Peter Crouch, who must have feared the worst despite scoring two goals against the Turks, gained his first Premiership start at Anfield this season.

Fulham travelled to Anfield without an away win since September 2006 and never having won at Anfield in their history.

Their optimistic fans would have recalled, though, that they were the last team to beat Liverpool in the League, a 1-0 success at Craven Cottage at the end of last season.

Against Besiktas, Liverpool were inspired by an early breakthrough and went on a goal spree. But Fulham, fighting in the bottom half of the table, were made of sterner stuff.

With captain Aaron Hughes marshalling Crouch and Andriy Voronin,Liverpool's first two opportunities opportunities fell to centre-half Sami Hyypia.

The big Finn isn't noted for his footwork, but he hit a 25-yard shot that Gerrard would have been proud of and his international team-mate Niemi was forced to spring to his left to tip the ball away.

Hyypia then sent a header harmlessly wide, while Hughes made a classic block to stop Crouch's goalbound shot after 21 minutes.

Despite Fulham's chronic away form, Lawrie Sanchez opted to play two up front — Shefki Kuqi and David Healy — and they nearly surprised Liverpool when a sweetly-struck shot by former Kop favourite Danny Murphy deflected off Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina had to make a smart stop.

The flurry of pressure woke Liverpool up temporarily.Despite their unbeaten start to the season — only they and Arsenal started the weekend undefeated — The Kop had been getting restless, with Benitez's side drawing six of their first 11 games.

Some of the passing on show was intricate enough but without end product.Benayoun's poor excuse for a header after Voronin completed a flowing four-man move by chipping invitingly towards the Israeli into the penalty area summed it up.

Indeed, the closest they came until the end of the first half was as a result of a freakish header by Hughes after Gerrard had crossed. The spinning ball looped high in the air and Niemi had to touch it away as it threatened to dip under the crossbar.

Liverpool saved the best of the first half until last. In the very last attack, Murphy was penalised and Fabio Aurelio curled in a free-kick towards Crouch.

The 6ft 7in striker, often criticised for not scoring enough with his head, easily won his battle in the air with Fulham's defenders but could not believe his bad fortune when his effort hit the crossbar.

Benitez clearly had strong words with his team during the break because Liverpool upped the tempo at the start of the second half.

Crouch's knockdown was struck goalwards first time by Voronin, bringing another save by Niemi, and Murphy was booked for bringing down Gerrard from behind as the Liverpool skipper surged towards goal. Aurelio's free-kick from 25 yards was parried by Niemi, but the onrushing Benayoun could only direct the ball over.

Niemi then had to palm over another fierce Voronin shot, following a tidy lay-off from Crouch.Yet when Gerrard set up a simpler chance, the ponytailed Ukrainian miskicked.

Ryan Babel came on for John Arne Riise after 62 minutes as Benitez attempted to go for the kill.Moments later, the breakthrough nearly came when Niemi tipped Benayoun's curler around the post. Voronin then steered his shot wide from Benayoun's pass.

Torres came on to a hero's welcome and he lived up to his billing by breaking the deadlock after 83 minutes, virtually out of nothing.Reina punted the ball forward and Torres chested it away from the Fulham defence, sprinted forward and then cut inside before delivering a low finish through the legs of Hughes and past Niemi.

And it was to get even better when Carlos Bocanegra caught the heels of Crouch, and Gerrard dispatched the awarded penalty.

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