Liverpool - 3 Bolton Wanderers - 1 The top triumvirate will hardly be quaking in their boots, but Liverpool's latest revival has sparked belatedly into life. Now must come proof that this is not merely another false dawn.
Victory yesterday came comfortably, the anxiety omnipresent on Merseyside in recent weeks only briefly creeping into the home side's approach during a stodgy opening half-hour. Once an advantage had been eked out, dawdling opponents were swept away so nonchalantly that any suggestion this was a test of Liverpool's mettle rang ridiculously hollow.
The home partisans departed happier but still wary. Gerard Houllier's side have threatened resurgence before this term, most notably with their dismantling of Birmingham at the end of November, only to slump back too readily into mediocrity.
"But I could feel a new strength and solidity in the side," said the Frenchman. "Everyone seemed to work for each other, run that extra yard for each other, and I felt the solidity of the team returned. It may look pragmatic but you need that if you're going to win, particularly with the injuries we have."
Chris Kirkland, cruelly, has swiftly returned to those ranks of walking wounded after breaking his little finger in a collision with Kevin Davies. The fracture will keep him out for up to a month.
"The boy's been really unlucky," said Houllier, who learnt the news after a post-match X-ray.
Jerzy Dudek will earn another reprieve in the 22-year-old's absence.
Other injuries are easing. Harry Kewell returned after a three-week absence and Stephane Henchoz was on the bench, while Michael Owen will undergo a precautionary scan on his thigh on Monday to confirm he is nearing full fitness. In the meantime Manchester City, even on the back of their 10-match winless run, will surely provide a stiffer challenge along the M62 tomorrow than a desperate Bolton could muster here.
Success was handed meekly to Liverpool as much as it was wrested from Bolton, who had arrived with a solitary defeat in their previous 10 games. That sequence included a League Cup win at Anfield, but all Wanderers' rugged intent was undermined by increasingly slipshod defending from the moment Sami Hyypia thumped a header from Danny Murphy's corner in off the underside of the crossbar.
That alleviated the tedium - as well as the tension - of the opening 30 minutes, though Ivan Campo should have deflated Scouse optimism only to nod Ricardo Gardner's cross wastefully wide of the far post.
"That might have jangled Liverpool's nerves a bit, but we never really tested whether they had lost their confidence or not," grumbled the manager Sam Allardyce. "Our performance was unacceptable and I just hope we've got it out of our system. I didn't think we could play any worse than we did in the first half."
Grim reality sank in 63 seconds after the restart, as Florent Sinama-Pongolle wriggled between panicked defenders and on to John-Arne Riise's cross to plant a second beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen. A trio of Bolton substitutes were introduced before Murphy's free-kick veered to the far post for Vladimir Smicer to head back and into the corner. By the time Henrik Pedersen thrashed in a consolation, Steven Gerrard and Riise had passed up further chances and the result was never in question. "There are two leagues: the top three and the rest, and the rest are very congested," Houllier added. "But we are only three points away from fourth place."
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland; Otsemobor, Biscan, Hyypia, Riise, Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard, Kewell (Diouf 66), Smicer (Le Tallec 79), Sinama Pongolle (Heskey 66). Subs Not Used: Dudek, Henchoz. Goals: Hyypia 30, Sinama Pongolle 47, Smicer 54.
BOLTON: Jaaskelainen; Hunt, Thome, Charlton, Gardner, Nolan, Frandsen, Campo (Ba 51), Okocha (Pedersen 51), Djorkaeff (Giannakopoulos 51), Davies. Subs Not Used: Poole, Barness. Booked: Frandsen, Hunt. Goal: Pedersen 85.
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).
