Gerrard inspires Liverpool to win over Rovers

Liverpool tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League with superbly taken goals from Steven Gerrard (picture) and Fernando Torres helping them to a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Anfield on Sunday.

The win kept Liverpool (66 points) in fourth place, five points clear of fifth-placed Everton in the race for a Champions League spot. Leaders Manchester United and third-placed Arsenal were meeting at Old Trafford in a later kickoff.

The victory took the focus off the boardroom troubles at the club which escalated in the week with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett continuing to battle for control at Anfield and Hicks calling for chief executive Rick Parry to resign. The squabbling noises from the boardroom were also in stark contrast to an impeccably observed minute's silence held before kickoff ahead of Tuesday's 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster which cost the lives of 96 Liverpool fans.

Before the match, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez told his players to just concentrate on playing well and they did just that, particularly in the second half. Gerrard, making his 300th league appearance for the club and playing with his typical driving authority, opened the scoring after 60 minutes, had a hand in the second goal and was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the opening half.

The breakthrough came when he battled for the ball just outside the Rovers penalty area, played a one-two with Lucas, then powered through the centre of the Rovers defence before firing past goalkeeper Brad Friedel. He then supplied a perfect cross for Torres to head home his 30th goal of the season to all but wrap up the match eight minutes from time.

It was the seventh successive top flight league match in which the Spaniard has scored at Anfield and he became the first Liverpool player to achieve such a feat. Late substitute Andriy Voronin added the third with a tap-in in the 90th minute and Roque Santa Cruz scored an outstanding consolation in stoppage time for Rovers with a volley past Pepe Reina high into the net. Rovers were unlucky to have a Jason Roberts effort disallowed for offside in the first half while Gerrard might have been awarded a penalty when he came down after a challenge from Friedel.

The result left Rovers in ninth place with their hopes of a UEFA Cup place looking more remote.