Gerrard gets Liverpool´s title charge up and running

11 August 2007 21:04

Fernando Torres of Liverpool United races for the ball during the Premiership football match at Villa Park in London. Liverpool United won the match 2-1.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez savoured the sweet taste of an opening day Premiership success for the first time as Steven Gerrard's late strike clinched a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Benitez had never won the first game of the season since arriving at Anfield in 2004, but England midfielder Gerrard conjured up a superb, curling, 25-yard free-kick in the 87th minute to steal the points.

Martin Laursen's first-half own goal had put Liverpool ahead and Gareth Barry's 85th minute penalty, awarded after Jamie Carragher handled Gabriel Agbonlahor's cross, was not enough to deny Liverpool their first opening day win for five years.

Benitez's record of starts to a season at Anfield has been less than impressive since moving from Spain and the slow starts have been held responsible for their failure to mount a serious challenge to Manchester United and Chelsea for the title, despite their success in the Champions League.

Which is precisely the reason Benitez has been so active in the transfer market, spending millions on Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Andriy Voronin, to enable them to hit the ground running and not have to play catch up against their main rivals over the second half of the season.

Spanish international Torres, at 26 million pounds, is regarded as the final piece to Liverpool's title jigsaw and he certainly provided some sparkling touches on his Premier League debut, following his arrival from Atletico Madrid.

And although Benitez has been at pains to play down expectations on his squad this season, there can be no escaping the fact that they will have to be genuine challengers this time around for multi-millionaire owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks not to consider the season a failure.

There was certainly plenty for the Spanish manager to be content with at Villa Park, apart from his side's inability to convert the huge number of chances they created, which would have avoided the need for such a nervous scramble to victory.

Ironically, after spending so much money on strikers, Liverpool had to rely on a freak own goal to give them the lead after 31 minutes of intense pressure.

Torres played an integral part, forcing Taylor into a full-length save after he had been sent clear into the area by Dirk Kuyt, who then pulled back the loose ball which Danish defender Laursen could only volley into his own net.

Victory would have been far more comprehensive for Benitez, but for the heroics of Taylor, playing because of the absence of injured Danish international Thomas Sorensen and the ineligibility of Scott Carson, the England under-21 international, who has just moved on loan from Anfield.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper denied Gerrard twice, once with an incredible save at point blank range, and also denied Torres a debut goal with some agile work - but it was not enough to prevent Villa extending their poor record against Liverpool to only one win in their last 17 meetings in the league.

His heroics looked like being rewarded when Villa won their late penalty, but just when Barry's strike seemed to have brought about a major injustice, Gerrard found the perfect answer with a brilliant free-kick.

Benitez and the Reds are off to a flying start to a season which everyone on Merseyside hopes will end with title success for the first time in 18 years.