Former Everton captain Speed came back to haunt the red half of Merseyside with a performance which you would not associate with a player of his advancing years.

In fact the 37-year old put many of the opposition midfield to shame with his display, including players of the ilk of Steven Gerrard, Mohammed Sissoko and Xabi Alonso, all of whom are over a decade his junior.

Liverpool started the game well by moving the ball at pace using their usual pass and move routine but Wanderers did well to break up the service towards the front three of Craig Bellamy, Dirk Kuyt and Jermaine Pennant.

It was Bolton who had the first clear sights of goal though as ex-Red's loan player Nicolas Anelka found himself through on goal following a defence splitting pass from Ivan Campo.

Unfortunately for the hosts the French striker was unable to keep his balance and composure thus allowing the Merseysiders a chance to clear their lines and move the ball to safety.

Welsh international Bellamy proved to be an irritation for the Wanderers down the left flank in the first half and he nearly created an opening for himself with a fine run which needed some good defensive play from Tal Ben-Haim to avert the danger.

With the game five minutes old Dutch striker Kuyt showed why he can be a danger in the air as he glanced a free kick by Steven Gerrard into the arms of Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Jaaskelainen once again showed many why he is one of the Premiership's top goalkeepers as he put in another competent display which saw him produce a number of good saves.

The visitors were almightily unlucky not to have taken the lead on twenty minutes when midfielder Xabi Alonso fired in an unstoppable volley which cannoned off Jaaskelainen's right post.

Had the Spaniard scored then it would have represented a similar goal to the one scored by Bolton skipper Kevin Nolan in the Wanderers match at Portsmouth on Monday evening.

On the half hour mark Bolton took the lead after Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina was adjudged to have handled the ball outside of the penalty area. Campo laid off the resulting free kick to Speed who in turn lashed the ball through a crowded wall and past Reina for his second goal of the season.

Soonafter Speed made a decisive block on Jermaine Pennant's shot at the other end of the field following Bellamy's dangerous cross which had made it's way through to the winger at the far post.

Five minutes before the break England midfielder Gerrard produced a powerful trademark shot from the edge of the area which Jaaskelainen proved to be more than equal to.

Early in the second half Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez brought on Peter Crouch in the hope that the lanky striker could repeat his heroics from Wednesday's Champions League win over Galatasary but it was Bolton who once again struck the killer blow through Campo.

Kevin Davies picked the ball up on the Bolton right hand side and his floated cross was headed past Reina by compatriot Campo who now becomes Bolton's top scorer for the season with three.

The ball bounced over the goal line and back out but the referee's assistant was in no doubt about awarding a goal as the Trotters once again proved that the Reebok Stadium is not an easy place to come and visit.

Benitez played his final cards by bringing on Boudwijn Zenden in the centre of midfield and Luis Garcia down the flanks but neither could reduce the defacit any.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Abdoulaye Faye, Abdoulaye Meite, Tal Ben-Haim, Kevin Nolan, Ivan Campo, Gary Speed, Kevin Davies, Nicolas Anelka (Ricardo Vaz-Te), El-Hadji Diouf (Stelios Giannakopoulos)

Subs Not Used: Idan Tal, Jarostaw Fojut, Ian Walker

Liverpool: Jose Reina, Steve Finnan, Sami Hyppia, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise, Steven Gerrard, Mohammed Sissoko (Boudwijn Zenden), Xabi Alonso, Jermaine Pennant (Luis Garcia), Dirk Kuyt (Peter Crouch), Craig Bellamy

Subs Not Used: Daniel Agger, Jerzy Dudek

Referee:

Phil Dowd

Attendance:

25,061

Booked:

Abdoulaye Faye (Bolton)

Gary Speed (Bolton)

Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

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