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 Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:35 am Post subject: Charlton 0 Liverpool 3 |
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December 16, 2006
LIVERPOOL notched up another victory to leave Charlton in deep trouble in the lower reaches of the Premiership.
Xabi Alonso's penalty - after a needless foul by Djimi Traore on Jermaine Pennant - put them on the way to all three points.
Craig Bellamy's powerful finish and Steven Gerrard's neat strike in the latter stages ensured the Reds moved into the Champions League places - and left Charlton swamped in the bottom three.
Liverpool were only ever going to be winners in this match despite holding a slender advantage for most of the 90 minutes.
Bellamy said: “No matter who dominated there was only one goal in it. There is always a chance and they missed a good chance just before we got our second.
“We knew the second goal would be vital. It took a while to get - it shouldn’t have.
“We have just opened up a bit more recently. We are playing some decent football, creating some chances and they are going in for us.”
Liverpool were handed the lead after less than three minutes when Traore’s wild attempt to clear a left-wing cross resulted in him catching Pennant’s head with his boot.
The ex-Reds defender was booked for his clumsy action and Alonso dispatched the penalty.
Keeper Thomas Myhre was beaten again two minutes later as Charlton struggled to cope but skipper Luke Young cleared off the line from Bellamy.
Bellamy dribbled through on his own to go past Myhre before Young’s crucial intervention.
Traore made partial amends by tackling Dirk Kuyt when the Dutchman looked certain to add a second goal from eight yards before the quarter-hour mark.
Liverpool were turning on the style that has brought them two successive 4-0 league wins.
And it was Traore again to the rescue when Charlton amazingly survived again as he acrobatically cleared Pennant’s shot off the line.
Charlton had a golden chance to equalise on 22 minutes when Pepe Reina could only push away Andy Reid’s shot and Hermann Hreidarsson hooked the rebound over an empty goal.
Mark Gonzalez presented Kuyt with another chance to double Liverpool’s lead 15 minutes from the break but the striker’s shot missed Myhre’s right post by a yard.
Myhre had to stretch his frame to keep out a Gonzalez header after Bellamy took advantage of ample space on the right to provide a telling far-post cross on 39 minutes.
Four minutes after the break Myhre had to make a flying save to keep out Alonso’s 25-yard effort and Gonzalez missed a simple header from the corner that followed.
Myhre then smothered Gerrard’s low shot from distance and floundered to reach a terrible back-pass by Amdy Faye which went out for a corner.
Charlton survived another close shave when Bellamy pulled the ball back from the left for Kuyt whose low drive bounced away off a post with Myhre helpless.
The Addicks should have been on terms two minutes later when Talal El Karkouri’s cross was met by Darren Bent who took one touch to control and then shot wide of the far post.
But Liverpool confirmed the win with eight minutes remaining when Bellamy picked up the ball inside the box and crashed his effort past Myhre.
And minutes later Gerrard added to Charlton's woes when he collected Peter Crouch's header before curling home.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez said: “It was a good game, we were creating a lot of chances and had a lot of opportunities to score two or three more goals.
“But we made mistakes and they could have scored. In the first 15 minutes we had five chances, we needed to score the second goal.
“The second half was the same and when you make mistakes sometimes you pay for them.”
Charlton: Myhre, Young (Diawara 6 , El Karkouri, Hreidarsson, Traore, Rommedahl, Faye (Hughes 5, Holland, Reid (Ambrose 46), Hasselbaink, Darren Bent. Subs not used: Andersen, Marcus Bent.
Booked: Traore.
Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Pennant (Crouch 83), Gerrard, Alonso, Gonzalez (Luis Garcia 67), Bellamy, Kuyt (Aurelio 77). Subs not used: Dudek, Agger.
Booked: Luis Garcia.
Goals: Alonso 3 pen, Bellamy 82, Gerrard 88.
Att: 27,111
Ref: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
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