Torres double downs Rovers

Fernando Torres fired Liverpool back to the Premier League summit with a first-half brace to sink sorry Blackburn.

Liverpool keep up the title pressure on United

Fernando Torres fired Liverpool back to the Premier League summit with a first-half brace to sink sorry Blackburn. Torres opened the scoring with a breathtaking finish in just the fifth minute before heading past Paul Robinson 12 minutes before the break as the home side totally dominated proceedings. Daniel Agger lashed home a late thunderbolt and substitute David N'Gog headed in from point-blank range in the 90th minute to complete an easy afternoon's work for Rafa Benitez's men. The match at Anfield was preceded by an impeccably observed minute's silence to mark Wednesday's 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool supporters. Once the action got under way, the Reds were swiftly into their stride against a Blackburn side who had centre-back Chris Samba pressed into solo striking duties. Benitez was able to leave captain Steven Gerrard on the bench throughout and withdrew Torres from the action with 17 minutes remaining with the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea to come on Tuesday and further Premier League battles ahead. The four-goal romp puts Liverpool back on top of the table, temporarily at least before Manchester United travel to Sunderland, while Rovers remain firmly embroiled in the relegation battle. Liverpool made four changes from the side that lost to Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Agger, Yossi Benayoun, Javier Mascherano and Emiliano Insua replacing Gerrard, Martin Skrtel, Lucas Leiva and Fabio Aurelio. Blackburn were without El-Hadji Diouf, Jason Roberts and Morten Gamst Pedersen from the side that beat Spurs last time out with Benni McCarthy only on the bench from that side. Andre Ooijer, Tugay, David Dunn and Keith Treacy came into the team as Sam Allardyce started with five at the back.

Sensational

Liverpool have had trouble with this style of defence all season at Anfield, but Rovers' resistance was broken after just five minutes with a sensational Torres goal. Jamie Carragher's long ball was taken down by Torres on his chest and with a turn and shot that had a touch of Marco van Basten about it, the Spaniard's stunning hooked volley flew past Paul Robinson into the far corner. Agger was booked for body-checking Treacy a minute afterwards, but Liverpool continued to attack and it could have been two after 15 minutes. Dirk Kuyt broke at pace from a Blackburn clearance and set up Mascherano for a shot that Robinson saved. However, Torres arrived first to the rebound and managed to lift his eight-yard effort over the bar. Robinson then produced a great save to keep out a close-range Kuyt header from Insua's cross. Somehow Benayoun blazed over from the rebound. Robinson saved again, this time from Mascherano before Keith Andrews was booked for a foul on Albert Riera after 33 minutes. And from the resulting Alonso free-kick out on the left, Torres scored his second with a fierce header having run virtually unattended from the corner of the box to meet the set-play. Blackburn sent on Aaron Doran at the break for Aaron Mokoena, but the pressure continued. Twice Riera saw long-range shots clear the far post as Liverpool went in search of more goals.

Swerving

Liverpool tried to over-elaborate, Kuyt firing over and Agger mis-hitting one wide from 20 yards before Blackburn sent on Carlos Villanueva for Dunn after 59 minutes. Seven minutes later Tugay was withdrawn, with Vince Grella taking over. But Liverpool had taken their foot off the pedal, not the best course of action against any top-flight side, but you sensed they had Chelsea on their minds, a feeling that was enhanced when Torres departed after 73 minutes to be replaced by Nabil El Zhar. Alonso was booked for a trip on Doran before Jose Reina - playing his 200th game for the club - was called into meaningful action. He saved well from Warnock and Villanueva before diving to his left to claim a low Samba effort. Warnock cleared off the line from Riera while Mascherano wasted a close-range opportunity. But the third eventually arrived when Agger ran from 40 yards out to blast a swerving foot shot past Robinson from just outside the box. Substitute N'Gog scored the fourth when he headed home from virtually on the line in the last minute after Lucas' clever header back across the box from a deep cross.

Liverpool	Team Statistics	Blackburn Rovers
4	Goals	0
2	1st Half Goals	0
10	Shots on Target	6
11	Shots off Target	4
2	Blocked Shots	1
7	Corners	2
9	Fouls	13
0	Offsides	3
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
84.8	Passing Success	68
31	Tackles	22
67.7	Tackles Success	86.4
67.8	Possession	32.2
55.5	Territorial Advantage	44.5