Bolton 1-2 Liverpool: Late Reds Surge Heaps Heartache on Neil Lennon
Liverpool will play Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the FA Cup after a late comeback helped them overcome a brave Bolton at the Macron Stadium.
After Eidur Gudjohnsen fired the home side ahead with a penalty, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho scored a couple of wonderful goals after Neil Danns was sent off for the home side to book Liverpool’s place in the next round.
Sterling came closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes when his imaginative effort cracked the post, with Andy Lonergan well and truly beaten. Adam Lallana turned beautifully on the edge of the area and fed it into Sterling, who jigged and feigned to shoot, wrong-footing Dorian Dervite before curling his right-footed shot around the centre-half and on to the woodwork.
Alhough Bolton looked dangerous on the counter, especially through the pace of Liam Feeney, it was Brendan Rodgers’ men who looked sharp and incisive, building a good rhythm to their passing which while finding space between Bolton’s midfield and defence, enabling Lallana and Philippe Coutinho to display their technique in tight pockets of space.
However, Neil Lennon outlined the need for defensive organisation in his pre-match press conference and, luckily for the Ulsterman, his words had not fallen on deaf ears. On several occasions, David Wheater shut the door in the face of Sterling and Coutinho impressively as he marshaled the back four with tremendous conviction.
Liverpool really turned on the style immediately before half-time and a glorious, flowing move nearly produced a spectacular goal from Coutinho. Gerrard and Sterling exchanged swift passes on the edge of the area before Lazar Markovic picked it up, shifting it onto the Brazilian who dropped his shoulder and fired a powerful effort with his right foot that whistled just wide.
A goal was the only missing ingredient from Coutinho’s display in the first-half. Elusive, dangerous and incredibly sharp, Coutinho continually bamboozled the Bolton players with his turn of pace and defence-splitting passes. In comfortably outshining Raheem Sterling, the attacking midfielder gave a clear indication that he is on the verge of blossoming into a truly world-class player.
Immediately after the half-time interval, it was Liverpool’s other pacy dynamo who wreaked havoc on the Bolton back-line. Flying through a sea of white shirts, Liverpool’s makeshift centre-forward forced a brilliant, full-stretch save from Lonergan after another curled effort courtesy of the 19-year-old’s right boot. After a stupendous, goal-saving tackle from Devrite, the irrepresible Sterling latched onto the loose ball and got his shot away but he failed to beat the gloves of Bolton’s second-choice goalkeeper, who was proving to be a more than worthy stand-in for the injured Adam Bogdan.
As Liverpool’s frustrations began to surface, Bolton were given the perfect opportunity to edge ahead when Martin Skrtel clipped the ‘street kid’ Zach Clough after the youngster dropped his left shoulder and knocked the ball past the struggling Slovakian defender. The vastly experienced Eidur Gudjohnsen stepped up and confidently converted the spot-kick to give the home side a precious advantage to protect.
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