Liverpool should be ashamed of themselves after their failure to bring a single save from Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
They will argue – with the backing of television evidence – that their solitary shot on target should have been rewarded with an equalising goal because Luis Garcia, their recent signing from Barcelona, was probably wrongly ruled offside in stroking home Dietmar Hamann's through-ball.
A reprieve then would have flattered Liverpool, because they had been made to look ordinary by a Bolton team who have carried on in the rich form with which they ended the last campaign.
This hard-earned triumph extends their current Premiership sequence to eight wins out of 10 and lifts them into third place, as manager Sam Allardyce continues to work minor miracles with his cosmopolitan selections.
Benitez handed the initiative to Bolton by omitting his club's record signing, Djibril Cisse, and starting the match with only one striker in Milan Baros. "That surprised us," reflected Allardyce, delighted that his own team's excellent recent record had led to such illustrious opponents running scared.
Suggestions that Cisse had been injured when he crashed into a police car on Friday were dispelled by Benitez, who declared that his decision to leave out the £14 million Frenchman was purely tactical.
Those tactics clearly did not work and Benitez was big enough to abandon them at half-time and deploy Cisse alongside Baros in an attempt to retrieve a deficit brought about by Kevin Davies's opportunistic 36th-minute strike.
Cisse should have responded by dragging Liverpool out of the mire but made a hash of a left-footed opportunity just inside the Bolton penalty area.
That opening might at least have brought Jaaskelainen into the game. The Cisse shot, like that from Baros beforehand from a similar position, was badly off the mark, though.
Liverpool's only other dangerous moments came when Garcia, who shaded compatriot Xabi Alonso on first impression, had a fierce drive blocked by Bruno N'Gotty and when John Arne Riise failed to get decent contact on a free-kick floated into the penalty area by Hamann.
Bolton threatened to go in front twice before Davies's decisive strike, Gary Speed being denied by the timely interception of Jamie Carragher and Stelios Giannakopoulos brought a smart reaction save from Jerzy Dudek.
The winning goal owed much to the deceptive pace of Henrik Pedersen down Bolton's left. Josemi, the third of Benitez's Spaniards on view – the injured Antonio Nunez is a fourth – could not keep up and the low cross eventually found its way to Davies at the far post.
The striker could not conceal his delight. "Over the last two years we've struggled at the start of the season, so we are really pleased to have got off to such a good start," he said.
Davies himself got off to an explosive start here, damaging the nose of his marker Sami Hyypia in the opening minute. The Finnish defender battled on but eventually had to retire complaining of dizziness and a possible fracture.
"That injury made a big difference," said Benitez, who sent on Djimi Traore as a substitute – a defensive switch which possibly ends the prospect of Traore moving to Everton. Stephane Henchoz, the Swiss defender, was not even in the squad yesterday, suggesting that there is no future for him at Anfield.
As for Liverpool's future, Benitez warned: "We need time." With Chelsea and particularly Arsenal setting such a hot pace, time might already be running out as far as title honours go this season.
