Reds close in on fourth

Liverpool beat Bolton 2-0 to move to within one point of fourth place after Spurs could only draw at Birmingham City.

Tottenham are in the final Champions League place with 42 points, while Liverpool have 41 and Aston Villa, having played a game less, have 40 after beating Fulham. Manchester City, who play Portsmouth on Sunday, are four points behind Spurs but have three games in hand.

Liverpool, with just seven wins in their past 24 games in all competitions prior to kick-off, handed Alberto Aquliani only his fourth Premier League start and the Italian made a decisive impact on 37 minutes when he headed back across goal from Emiliano Insua's cross to set up Dirk Kuyt, who finished through the legs of Gary Cahill for his third goal in three games.

David Ngog, restored to the starting line-up, had a golden chance to double Liverpool's lead at the start of the second half but the Frenchman somehow missed from six yards, hitting the woodwork after getting his shot all wrong. Liverpool did secure all three points on 70 minutes though when a wayward shot from Insua deflected off Kevin Davies and into the back of the net.

Tottenham were unable to maintain their three-point advantage over the Reds though as they succumbed to a late equaliser when drawing 1-1 with Birmingham at St Andrew's. The home side had seen their 15-game unbeaten run brought to a brutal end at the hands of Chelsea in midweek and Alex McLeish's men went behind again on 68 minutes when Peter Crouch flicked on a Gareth Bale cross to Jermain Defoe, who claimed his 17th goal of the season.

But in the final minute of normal time, defender Liam Ridgewell extended his side's unbeaten home run to nine games as Birmingham stay in eighth place.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.