Kuyt's edge and class of Crouch help Liverpool put heat on Chelsea

Last updated : 31 January 2007 By The Independent

The gap to the Premiership champions in second place is a mere two points. Over to you, Jose Mourinho.

By the time Blackburn visit Stamford Bridge tonight, Chelsea will know that, for the first match in a long time, they need to look below them in the table as well as above. Two perfectly taken goals by Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch have given some spice to Blackburn's visit to Stamford Bridge tonight, and the unstoppable progress of Benitez's side begs questions of the staying power of both the top two.

That adds up to nine victories from 10 games for Benitez's side and the Liverpool manager said last night that he was confident of signing Javier Mascherano today after getting clearance from Fifa last night. It was those transfer-market issues that Benitez said had led to him forgetting that yesterday was the 26th birthday of Crouch, who had to make do with Sky's man-of-the-match champagne to celebrate.

Topping the goal that Kuyt struck within 12 seconds of the start of the second half took some doing, but Crouch managed it when he swept John Arne Riise's cutback to the edge of the area into the net with his instep.

"We are winning a lot of games in a row and we are keeping the momentum," Benitez said. "Chelsea have quality and experience but they know that we are moving closer."

They did so amid a new despair around Upton Park that was only briefly lifted when Kepa Blanco scored with the first touch on his debut. Alan Curbishley spoke about being "knocked for six" by injuries and results and his expression on the touchline looked more haunted than normal. Today he might sell Marlon Harewood who, before Blanco's cameo, was his side's only serious performer.

The 3-4-3 formation at Liverpool had only been used by Benitez once before against Watford and it can hardly be taken as a compliment by West Ham that he implemented it against them last night.

It is certainly not yet a system primed for the big occasions. It would be difficult, in the current circumstances, to describe a visit to West Ham as falling into that category. They looked woeful for long periods of the first half, desperately short of ideas, bereft of leadership and that was before Roy Carroll started flapping at crosses. The stadium announcer at half-time declared the results from elsewhere, which were going against West Ham in the battle against relegation, as "rubbish". He might as well have used the same description for the football too.

It was Harewood who had the best effort of the first half, a sizzling low shot that Pepe Reina turned around the post although the referee Martin Atkinson inexplicably failed to reward West Ham with the corner. The speed with which Liverpool unpicked West Ham at the start of the second half was embarrassing, the collapse of the home side's nerve after that even worse.

Only 12 seconds into the new half and Crouch pulled the ball down with his back to goal and laid it off to Kuyt. The Dutch striker hit a dipping shot that beat Carroll from more than 20 yards.

After then it looked simple. Before the hour Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso combined to set Riise free down the left wing. He cut a low ball back to Crouch, who picked his spot perfectly. The murmurs of discontent became roars of disapproval among the home fans.

"We want our money back," was the chant from the West Ham fans and you could hardly have blamed their new chairman, Eggert Magnusson, for joining in.

West Ham briefly fought their way back after Benitez withdrew Crouch for Jermaine Pennant but stuck with a 3-4-3 that had only just started to work properly. Both Carlton Cole and Marlon Harewood were replaced and Curbishley's new strikeforce made the difference. On 77 minutes, Bobby Zamora got down the left wing and crossed for Kepa Blanco, the loan signing from Seville, to score with his first touch. The equaliser never looked like a possibility.