Torres keeps Liverpool’s Champions League push alive

Fernando Torres marked his first English Premier League start of 2010 by hitting the winner as Liverpool triumphed 2-1 in a bruising encounter with Blackburn

Fernando Torres marked his first English Premier League start of 2010 by hitting the winner as Liverpool triumphed 2-1 in a bruising encounter with Blackburn at Anfield.

Torres has endured an injury-interrupted season but the Spain striker made a telling contribution yesterday as Rafa Benitez’s side maintained their push to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Keith Andrews scored a shock equaliser for Rovers from the penalty spot to cancel out Steven Gerrard’s 10th goal of the season before Torres struck in the 44th minute – his 13th Premier League goal of the season – to leave Liverpool sixth in the table,one point behind Tottenham and Manchester City. The pressure on Benitez’s side to win had been increased by Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool’s city rivals Everton earlier in the day.

Story continues below this ad

Thursday’s excursion to Romania to face Unirea Urziceni in the Europa League round of 32 appeared to have taken its toll on Benitez’s team. The Reds won 3-1 in the second leg for a 4-1 victory on aggregate.

Not even the presence of Torres could inspire his team-mates in the opening exchanges as Blackburn shot out of the blocks,the mid-table visitors going close to opening the scoring four times alone in the first 15 minutes.

In Odisha, Modi mounts ‘loot tantra-vs-bachat utsav’ attack on Congress over GST

India5 hr ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday hailed the revised Goods and Services Tax (GST) structures, saying the era of “double bachat (saving) and double kamai (income)” has arrived under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule. Addressing the ' Namo Yuva Samabesh' in Jharsuguda, Modi accused the Congress of indulging in “loot tantra (tactics)” while in power.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS