RAFA HAPPY WITH WIN OVER ROVERS

Rafael Benitez celebrated his 46th birthday by seeing Liverpool move within three points of second-placed Manchester United at Ewood Park this afternoon and afterwards declared himself a happy man.

Robbie Fowler's fourth goal since rejoining the club in January secured a crucial 1-0 victory over Blackburn and maintained the chase for runners-up spot behind Chelsea. "We are working hard, playing well and winning games," said Benitez. "You cannot say whether this is the best or not in terms of satisfaction but I am happy. "Our idea was to play compact, use the space behind the defence and hit them on the counter attack, especially in the second half because we were up against a physical side who played a lot of long balls and crosses into our box. "It was really good to keep another clean sheet. It is good for the team and everyone worked hard to achieve this, even the front players; Morientes, Fowler and Cisse. This is always the key to keeping a clean sheet." On the winning goal, that Blackburn claimed should have been disallowed for offside, Benitez added: "I haven’t seen replay. It was a throw-in and I told John to just get the ball in quick. Cisse never touched the ball but the offside rule needs to change because it causes problems for the referees." Benitez also revealed that Steven Gerrard's absence from the squad was because of a tight hamstring but confirmed that he should be fit to face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.

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CHELSEA (a)
18:15 Sat 22nd April
FA Cup Semi Final

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