Slide ruleDELIGHTED Rafa Benitez declared that a fit-again Fernando Torres could be the deciding factor in Liverpool reviving their title challenge after yesterday’s 2-0 defeat of Chelsea.
Torres celebrated his first Premier League goals for more than three months – since the 3-2 win at Manchester City on October 5.
And boss Benitez said afterwards: “For the rest of the season to see Fernando Torres coming back will be very, very important for us.
“Fernando’s goals were important for the team and important for him.”
The Reds boss also declared that Robbie Keane, axed from the squad for the second big game in a week, would also be an important member of his squad despite deadline day interest from Tottenham.
Hanging around
Jamie Carragher of Liverpool tangles with Nicolas Anelka of Chelsea.
“Will Robbie Keane still be here tomorrow? I think so,” he said.
“Will he be in my Champions League squad? Again, yes.
“I have to decide on the players that we have for each game. We have some good players and I was thinking about the best forwards for this game.
No headway
“I spoke to him. After the game he was pleased because the team has won.”
Benitez repeated his assertion that the title race would have many more twists before the champions are crowned, but that his side was well placed to strike.
“Our position can change every week. For me, it was a long race before the season started. We were in a good position before today. It’s still a long race and we are in a better position now.
“We scored two goals and we could have had three right at the end.”
Climbing the ladder
And he dismissed the presence of the watching American owners.
“I am always happy to win. It doesn’t matter who is sat in the stands,” he said.
“We deserved to win when the game was 11 v 11.
“We were better than them. When it was 11 v 10 we had more control and more opportunities to score. In the end we deserved to win.
Late but great
“I haven’t seen the replay of the red card, but I could see too many yellow cards. But I can’t change that.”
Chelsea counterpart Luiz Felipe Scolari called for the FA to rescind Frank Lampard’s red card, but conceded: “I think Liverpool were better than us all game.
“But the red card changed the match one million per cent.
Tough, to be Frank
“We lost the middle of the park, they had more of the ball, they created more and had more chances.
The game was 50-50 before the sending off.
“I do not want to criticise the referee, all I ask is that he looks at the video with the men from the FA. If they agree that Lampard did not commit a foul for his red card, maybe they will change the decision.”
Scolari admits that video evidence could now be used against Jose Bosingwa after he kicked Yossi Benayoun in the back, a clash that was not punished by Riley.
“What Bosingwa did was not correct, he made a mistake.”
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