And what's more, with Everton and Villa drawing yesterday, it meant that come October (at least for a few hours anyway), little Bolton Wanderers were sitting proudly in second place, and at worst tonight will still be in the top four going into the international break.
Yes, at times yesterday, we were very much backs against the wall as we battled not only to defend our lead, but to keep our clean sheet record at the Reebok intact. Yes, when you look at chances, shots on goal etc, Liverpool will probably claim that they were robbed, much like Portsmouth claimed on Monday night. But the fact is, it was yet another dogged performance from the Wanderers, a solid, resolute defensive display which in itself deserved its rewards.
Not one player on our team had a poor game yesterday. Indeed, perhaps the only player I would find fault with was Abdoulaye Faye, who in his eagerness to get stuck in for the team, appeared very reckless to me. I won't deny that I expected Faye to be shown a red card as the match went on, especially as he was on an early yellow. But Faye is a strong, powerful player, and he isn't going to go in to any challenge with anything but 100%, and if that warrants a few yellow cards, then so be it.
Nicky Hunt and Tal Ben Haim had fantastic matches, considering the pace they were having to deal with coming from Liverpool's flanks. Hunt has come in for a lot of critisism lately, and deservedly so, but on the flip side, when he puts in a performance as good as that, he deserves the plaudits. For me, Hunt was a very close second to Gary Speed's man of the match. Abdoulaye Meite proved yet again what a fine signing he is. I think each and everyone of the defence put in at least two fine tackles to stop the Liverpool attack over the course of the 90 minutes.
In midfield, Speed and Ivan Campo both got fine goals. Yes, our first goal was controversial, and if slow motion replays show that Reina committed no foul, then Liverpool do have a right to be agrieved. But bear in mind that it took a slow motion replay to spot that Reina was innocent of any foul. It's quite natural then that in normal time, the linesman would think that Reina went outside his box.
As for the freekick, a fine strike from Speed, even if it did take a deflection to leave Reina stranded. It was the icing on the cake on a brilliant performance from Speed, who doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down whatsoever - and long may that continue!
As for Campo, a brilliant header from an excellent cross from Kevin Davies. This time, there can be no complaints on Liverpool's behalf, the ball clearly crossed the line. It was well-spotted by the linesman. Another great showing from Campo, who still possesses the ability to release any player on the park with one of his cross-field balls.
Up front, Davies, Nicolas Anelka and El Hadji Diouf all had great matches. Davies got as stuck in as ever, whilst Anelka seemed to me to win every aerial battle he went up for. In addition, he also showed some very nice touches occasionally that to me shows that he is worth every penny we paid for him. Once he starts banging the goals in, there'll be no stopping him. Diouf covered a lot of the pitch yesterday, holding the ball up well and taking on the Liverpool defence.
As for Jussi, another solid performance, and five clean sheets out of seven this season speaks volumes about our keeper's form. It was good defensive work to slowly force Liverpool into mainly long range efforts, but bearing in mind that Liverpool have Stevie Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, two of the best hitters of the ball in the Premiership, that's almost asking for trouble. However, any effort on target, Jussi dealt with comfortably. His save at the end of the first half from Bellamy was top drawer as well.
All in all, a great victory that, along with the Portsmouth win, shows that in the face of adversity the team has united and come out stronger as a result. The lads can enjoy a well-earned international break (well, those that aren't playing anyway), safe in the knowledge that they will be occupying a Champions League place until mid-October at the earliest!
Finally, great to see a high crowd yesterday. Had it not been for the match being a 12.45 kick off and being televised, I have no doubts that had it been a 3 o'clock match instead, it would have been a sell-out.