At long last! When we beat West Ham 2-0 in November, it seemed unthinkable that we'd have to wait until early March before our next league win at Anfield, but that's exactly what happened. Let's just hope we don't have to wait as long for our next one.
Our home form has been woeful, as the flaws in our play have been exposed time and again by lesser opposition. We've only lost one home game of course, but eight draws tells its own story.
We are far too predictable, negative even. If plan A doesn't work, we revert to.... well, plan A again. Games have regularly been dour, dull affairs, and this one wasn't that much different. But at least we won, and there was a collective sigh of relief all around the ground at the final whistle.
Gerard Houllier was full of praise for his side after the game, claiming that "we beat a very good team today." And there was me thinking that Bolton are shite. You don't need a UEFA coaching badge to know that, a simple look at the league table tells its own story.
Mind you, GH obviously has a high regard for Wanderers, which explains his decision to play one man up front in a home game against a side which lies fourth from bottom in the table.
But that's enough moaning. For now anyway. There were some positives to come out of this game. Another goal for Michael who just can't stop scoring at the moment (sorry, couldn't resist that), a flawless display at the back from Djimi Traore in the absence of Steph, and a lively performance from Diouf capped by a goal and an assist.
The reds began the game brightly, with Gerrard and Murphy prominent, but as has happened so often, they couldn't convert their possession into clearcut chances. Owen was looking very lively, and almost got in a couple of times, and Smicer - a surprise selction ahead of his compatriot Milan Baros - saw a shot brilliantly stopped by Jaaske... Jaske...Jaskal... the Bolton keeper.
The best chance fell to big Sami, but once again he failed to make the most of a free header. Hyypia really should be getting about 15 goals a season given the amount of chances he gets. Nine times out of ten though, he fails to hit the target. Defensively his heading is top notch. In an attacking sense though he's very poor. Some extra work on the training ground wouldn't go amiss.
The longer the half went on, the more Bolton came into things. They rarely threatened Jerzy's goal though, the big Pole only having one save to make, a routine stop from a speculative Jay Jay Okacha effort. Ricardo Garner had Wanderer's best chance, but miskicked horribly after fine work by Mendy on the right had teed him up in the box.
Thar miss would prove costly, as the reds took the lead just before half time when Owen wriggled free in the box and clipped the ball over the keeper. It may have been going in anyway, but Diouf made sure by heading in from about six inches out.
The Senegalese star can be a bit hit and miss at times, and not everything he tries comes off, but his work rate is commendable, he's always looking for the ball and his unpredictability gives us something which we are desperately lacking in other areas of the side. All that's missing really are goals, and if he can improve his strike rate then that £10m may not look so much after all.
The first half ended on a sour note however, when from a reds corner (it may have been a throw in or free kick though) the ball ended up going all the way back to Dudek. Boos echoed around the stadium, and Steven Gerrard got into a slanging match with a fan in the Paddock who had obviously taken exception to him playing the ball backwards.
I don't agree with the fan who had a go at Stevie, but the reaction from the rest of the stadium was a clear indication that many are not happy with the standard of football which is being served up. Personally, I'm far from happy with what we have to watch week in week out. If the results are there, it makes it harder to criticise the style of play, but when results go pear shaped and the standard of football is piss poor, then the flak will fly, as it has been.
It seems churlish to focus on the negatives after we have just won, and I'm trying not to, I really am, but it's hard to be positive at the moment when you look at the league table. We may have beaten Bolton, but it was hardly a performance to suggest that great things are just around the corner.
The second half of this game was awful. For the opening fifteen minutes of the half, we couldn't do a thing right. Vladi in particular suffered, whilst even the likes of Sami and Didi were guilty of sloppy play on numerous occasions.
Nerves appeared to be creeping in, understandable given how long it had been since our last win at home, and against more capable opposition we could have been punished. Thankfully, Ivan Campo couldn't hit Wayne Rooney's arse with a banjo, and the floppy haired Spaniard was more of a threat to those on the back row of the Kop than he was to Jerzy Dudek's goal.
We desperately needed a second, and it arrived courtesy of a slip by Simon Charlton, which allowed Diouf to make his way to the byline before presenting Owen with a rare tap in. Michael will be delighted to finally score a goal which he didn't have to work hard for. It's just a shame that chances like these are so rare for him.
Smicer made way for Cheyrou, who made his usual contribution - zilch. Gerrard was then given a rest and replaced by Diao, whilst Milan Baros stood seething on the touchline. I've been watching Milan closely in the last few weeks, and his body language on the touchline says a lot about his frame of mind.
He was so pissed off yesterday, and kept staring at the bench waiting for the call to go on. It never arrived, and Milan looked to be getting more and more agitated by the second (my lip reading isn't the best, but I swear at one point I saw him shaking his head and saying "bastard" as Thommo stood on the line, but failed to call Milan back to the bench). He was not happy, that was obvious, and he wasn't the only one, there were plenty of us in the crowd sharing his frustration.
Having sealed a spot in Europe last week through winning the Worthy Cup, it had been suggested that we'd be a lot more attacking and free flowing between now and the end of the season, as the pressure had been lifted somewhat. Playing one man up front against Bolton Wanderers suggest that little, or nothing has changed. And just how many goals does Neil Mellor have to score to even get a place on the bench?
To end on a positive, Djimi Traore proved once again that he's a different player when used at centre half. The young Frenchman was impeccable, and made several timely interventions to thwart Bolton. As a left back his distribution gets him into trouble. At centre half, he doesn't have that problem, and he looks so much more comfortable.
The midfield performed well too in patches, with Diouf very lively and Gerrard continuing his recent good form. For me though, Danny Murphy was once again the reds' best player. SuperDan was top class last week in Cardiff, and he continued where he left off today against the Trotters. He's easily been our best player this season, and shows no sign of slackening off.
So although it was far from vintage stuff, it was our third win in a row, and sets us up nicely for the first leg of the battle of Britain. Bring on the Celts!
TEAM: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore, John Arne Riise; Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard (Salif Diao), Didi Hamann, El Hadji Diouf; Vladimir Smicer (Bruno Cheyrou), Michael Owen:
