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Dirk Kuyt leads Liverpool past Bolton
By Arjan Plantinga
Monday 17 November 2008
With a goal and a number of chances
made for others Dirk Kuyt was decisive for his club
Liverpool as his team beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 and
remain joint leaders in the English Premier League.
Opinions about Dirk Kuyt have been
differing since his arrival at Anfield Road two-and-a-half
years ago.
"He works hard but what else
can he do?" was the general opinion about the man
from Katwijk.
But this season it's an all together
different story as the former Feyenoord player has started
doing what he did best in Holland: score goals.
Saturday's goal was his fifth of
the season and that is two more already than in all
of last season.
With center forward Fernando Torres
out with an injury in recent weeks Kuyt has taken over
his role of main goal scorer without effort and actually
seems redeemed with the big Spaniard not there.
Kuyt first gave of a warning after
he set up an attack that came back to him when Steven
Gerrard pulled the ball back to him and his scorching
shot hit the cross bar.
Shortly after Kuyt did open the
score when Fabio Aurelio played in a wonderfully curved
cross to the far post which Kuyt steered away from the
goalkeeper with his head.
He then turned provider when he
played in a neat cross to the near post where Keane
inexplicably failed to make contact and thus missed.
Bolton then shocked Anfield when
they equalized from a corner but Cahill's goal was disallowed
for a foul only referee Styles had seen.
Coach Benitez put on Torres in
the last part of the second half but Liverpool kept
missing chances.
Kuyt gave Gerrard a perfect opportunity
but the Liverpool skipper slid the ball wide.
Yet Gerrard was able to atone.
Torres made the goal, judging the
bounce of a long ball better than Andy O'Brien and then,
after the defender had pinched it from him, taking it
back and placing it on the head of Gerrard, who glanced
it out of Jaaskelainen's reach: 2-0.
Liverpool - with Ryan Babel on
the bench for 90 minutes - remain at the top with 32
points from 13 matches, together with Chelsea who have
a much better goal difference.
Manchester United follow 8 points
behind the two leaders.
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