"We kept our
cool and composure
and got the rewards."
                 Gerard Houllier

DECEMBER 26
Houllier: We deserved this win

LFC Official Website

Gerard Houllier praised the solidity and commitment of his players and was delighted with the performance during the much needed 3-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers.

The Reds manager said he was happy with the movement and trickery of front pairing Harry Kewell and Florent Sinama-Pongolle who caused the Bolton defence all sorts of problems.

Houllier said: "It was a deserved win and we scored three good goals. Bolton were the in-form team coming here having just one defeat in their last 10 games. They have good players and have a difficult system to break down.

"That's why I went for a different set-up today with Harry and Florent up front to cause them problems with their movement and pace. We lost to Bolton in the Carling Cup and we had a point to prove today.

"Things didn't go very well for us in the first part of this game as Bolton were difficult to break down and well organised, but we didn't panic. We kept our cool and composure and got the rewards.

"Harry Kewell is just back and worked so hard for us. I took him off because I didn't want him to get a recurrence of his injury, and we have a game at Manchester City on Sunday."

DECEMBER 26
Reds keep their heads at Anfield

By Rob Lancaster - Sky Sports

Liverpool avenged their recent Carling Cup loss to Bolton as they ran out 3-1 victors at Anfield.

Three headed goals clinched the points for Gerard Houllier's men and helped ease some of the pressure on his shoulders.

After a poor opening the Reds began to put pressure on the visitors and broke the deadlock on the half hour.

Jussi Jaaskelainen did not help his side's cause when his attempted punch clear from a corner looped backwards and forced him to turn it over the bar for another corner kick.

Danny Murphy swung the ball in from the right and Sami Hyypia climbed the highest to power in a header off the underside of the bar.

Bolton should have gone in level at half-time through Ivan Campo. However, the Spaniard somehow managed to put a free header from six yards out wide of the post in front of the Kop end.

Liverpool did not take long to double the lead after the interval as John Arne Riise worked his way down the left and drifted over a cross that Florent Sinama-Pongolle headed home on 47.

The young French forward could have made it three just a minute later when Kewell pushed him in. He rounded the keeper but was forced wide and had to settle for a corner.

The hosts did find the net again soon after when Murphy's free kick from the right picked out Vladimir Smicer all on his own and the Czech nodded in to the bottom right corner.

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce made a triple substitution to try and rescue something and it was replacement Tore Pedersen who got the Trotters on the scoresheet.

The Danish striker scored his third goal in as many games when he slotted home after a scramble in the box, but it proved nothing more than a consolation for the away team.