At last - Crouch
celebrates his goal.
DECEMBER 4
Rafa pleased
with Crouch goals
By Al Campbell - LFC Online
Rafael Benitez says he is pleased for Peter Crouch
after the England international scored his first goals
for Liverpool yesterday.
Benitez said he was delighted Crouch finally broke his
duck yesterday and added that the first goal should
definitely be credited to Crouch rather than as an own
goal.
Benitez said: "I'm pleased for Peter to get his two
goals and he deserved them. The first goal is his. I was
at a manager's meeting in Geneva recently with FIFA and
we agreed that when a striker has a shot and it's
deflected then it's the strikers goal.
"Everyone is delighted for Peter and the supporters
showed him what they think of him. I hope he can now
score more goals but as I said the most important thing
is the team wins.
"We played very well against Wigan and we had three or
four other clear opportunities to score. It's a pity we
didn't score more and when you create the amount of
chances we are then you need to score."
DECEMBER 3
Crouch: It's great to have finally scored
By Mark Platt - LFC Official Website
Peter Crouch has spoken of his joy at finally
breaking his barren run in front of goal for Liverpool
and revealed that confidence in the camp is sky-high
following a sixth successive Premiership win.
 Crouch
(pictured) netted twice in the first half as the Reds
defeated Wigan 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. He
was understandably delighted afterwards and adamant that
no-one will take his first strike away from him.
He said: "I had a big slice of luck with the first one
obviously. It was on target but went a bit higher than I
planned. If it goes to the dubious goals committee I'll
be telling them that it's definitely mine.
"I am a buoyant person by nature but if I'm honest this
goal drought as been getting me down at times. I've been
getting a bit of stick lately but it's great to get the
goals today and hopefully I can go on from here and
score more.
"It was a good team performance and great to get the
three points today. We are up to second now and playing
well. The defence has kept another clean sheet and that
makes our life easier up front. All of this give us
confidence and bodes well for the future."
DECEMBER 3
Crouch strike sinks Latics
By Stephen Bateman - Sky Sports
Peter Crouch ended his 24-hour long goal drought in
style as Liverpool beat Wigan on Saturday.
The England striker netted his first goal since May 7 as
The Reds recorded their sixth win on the bounce, while
Wigan look to have finally been shaken from their dream
Premiership start after registering their third
consecutive defeat.
Luis Garcia sealed the three points for Liverpool,
scoring his first top-flight goal at Anfield this season
to make the final score 3-0.
Wigan started the game brightly, forcing two corners
within the opening three minutes of the contest,
although Liverpool always looked in control, with Steven
Gerrard immediately stamping his authority on midfield.
The opening exchanges were keenly fought with neither
side being prepared to give any quarter as they battled
it out in their first ever league meeting.
After 11 minutes, the clock went full circle on Crouch
as the seconds ticked away to herald the equivalent of a
full day's play without finding the back of the net.
Moments later, the goal-shy forward set about settling
the score with his critics by way of the only currency
that strikers recognise.
The rangy target man appeared to have finally opened his
Liverpool account in controversial style with a
deflected goal on 18 minutes when he broke from midfield
before sending in a speculative effort from the edge of
the area.
The ball took a wicked deflection off Latics skipper
Arjan De Zeeuw, leaving Mike Pollitt stranded in
no-man's land as he desperately back-peddled but
ultimately succeeded only in palming the ball into his
own net.
Ten minutes later a Gerrard cross bypassed everyone in
the penalty area, forcing Pollitt to go down and make a
smart save at the feet of Crouch. At the other end, De
Zeeuw was unlucky to see his header graze the top of the
crossbar after meeting a Jimmy Bullard corner.
Gerrard then gave full notice of his threat as an
attacking force, taking two defenders out of play with
his first touch before sending in a right-footed shot
from the right-hand edge of the area.
Again, Pollitt did well to deny the Liverpool
midfielder, although it seemed inevitable that more
goals would follow.
After Sami Hyypia had headed narrowly wide, Fernando
Morientes and Crouch got in the way of each other as
they contested a corner, leaving the ball to fall to
Harry Kewell - making just his second start of the
Premiership campaign - at the back post.
The Australian will have been deeply disappointed with
his finish, however, as he guided his shot tamely into
the side-netting.
With debate still ranging about whether or not Crouch
would be credited with the game's opening goal, an
audible gasp echoed around Anfield when he sprang the
Wigan offside trap four minutes later.
The former Spurs man kept his cool admirably as Pollitt
rushed out to close the angle, calmly lifting the ball
over him and into an empty net, much to the delight of
an ecstatic Kop.
Wigan began the second half in a similarly upbeat style
to the first, with Graham Kavanagh rocketing a shot
inches over the Liverpool crossbar after Jason Roberts
had done well to win a corner from Hyypia and Jamie
Carragher.
In spite of the two-goal deficit, Wigan remained unbowed
as they desperately sought a way back into the contest.
With an hour gone, Bullard steered a shot just wide of
the left-hand upright after more good work from Roberts
in the Liverpool area.
But as Wigan pressed forward, Luis Garcia put the result
beyond any shadow of a doubt. Morientes peeled away from
his marker to power a header goalwards, allowing his
compatriot the opportunity to nip in front of Pollitt
and chest the ball beyond him.
Minutes later, Pollitt produced one of the saves of the
season to deny Gerrard. The Liverpool skipper thundered
in a close-range free kick, forcing Pollitt to leap
full-length to his left, just managing to push the ball
wide with the very tips of his fingers.
The former Rotherham shot-stopper was called into action
again in the 82nd minute, denying Morientes with an
outstanding double save.
Djibril Cisse, on as a second-half substitute, broke the
offside trap before squaring to the unmarked Spaniard on
the edge of the area. Morientes had clearly failed to
count on Pollitt, however, as he nonchalantly looked to
steer the ball past him.
After the big Wigan keeper had got his body in front of
the initial shot, he then pounced on the rebound as the
Liverpool forward tried to make amends for his earlier
miss.
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