LONDON, Jan 1 - Liverpool turned on the style in the second half to beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at Anfield on Monday and leapfrog their Lancashire rivals into third place in the Premier League.

Excellent volleys by Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard midway through the second period and a late third goal from Dirk Kuyt made up for a poor first hour and completed a satisfying holiday period for Rafael Benitez's team.

They move up to 40 points, one ahead of Bolton. Manchester United, who visit Newcastle United later on Monday, lead the standings on 53 points while champions Chelsea, who visit Aston Villa on Tuesday, have 47.

Arsenal, who host Charlton Athletic on Tuesday, are fifth on 36, ahead on goal difference of Portsmouth, who drew 1-1 with seventh-placed Tottenham Hotspur in an action-packed game at Fratton Park.

Reading continued to enjoy their first season in the top flight as they thrashed West Ham United 6-0 and Manchester City made it three wins in a row with a 2-1 home success over Everton.

Blackburn Rovers completed their impressive recovery with a 3-0 success at Wigan Athletic for their third successive festive victory since losing 6-2 at Arsenal on December 23.

Monday's Anfield clash was a meeting of two of the form teams of the division. Bolton had won their last five games and Liverpool five of the last six but the fear of defeat for both sides seemed far stronger than the desire to continue those runs as the first hour produced little notable action.

GERRARD HONOUR

The game changed completely in under two minutes as Crouch scored with an overhead kick in the 61st and Gerrard, awarded an MBE in Queen Elizabeth's New Year's Honours List, then clipped in a neatly-taken, side-footed volley.

Kuyt tucked in the third seven minutes from time to leave Benitez smiling.

"It was a very good game, especially the second half, there were some good goals and (it is) a fantastic beginning of the year," he told Sky Sports.

Reading, who held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw last week and made Manchester United work hard for a 3-2 win two days ago, swamped West Ham from the off.

Brynjar Gunnarsson and Stephen Hunt had them two up after 15 minutes and an Anton Ferdinand own goal and a Kevin Doyle shot made it 4-0 at halftime.

Leroy Lita got the fifth eight minutes into the second half and Doyle's 10th of the season completed West Ham's third successive defeat that keeps them in the relegation zone.

It was tough to watch for West Ham manager Alan Curbishley, whose first game in charge less than three weeks ago was a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.

"I've got to try and get some confidence back into those players, they've got to live with what's happened today and with what's happened so far this season," he told Sky Sports.

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