IT WAS hardly convincing, but Liverpool did just enough to maintain the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a narrow victory at Wigan thanks, in large part, to Yossi Benayoun’s debut Premier League goal for his club.

Sidelined for Liverpool’s two previous league games by his manager, Fernando Torres returned to the starting lineup after his Carling Cup hat-trick in midweek against Reading. Javier Mascherano and Jermaine Pennant also won their places back on return from injury, with Peter Crouch not even making the bench.

Liverpool had comfortably won their previous four Premier-League games against Wigan, but Chris Hutchings’ side went into yesterday’s game with their home form markedly improved this season and they started as though they intended to prove a point to their more illustrious opponents.

Jason Koumas and Michael Brown had the better of the early exchanges in midfield and Wigan, roared on by a rare home sell-out crowd, had a sniff after four minutes when Marcus Bent slipped a mistimed challenge by Sami Hyypia but shot wide.

However, once Steven Gerrard and Mascherano settled into the pace of the game, Liverpool dominated the rest of the half. Wigan, though, were never afraid to throw their bodies at the ball when it was apparently goalbound and both Pennant and Dirk Kuyt were frustrated by resolute defending as Liverpool attempted to revive the stuttering league form that has seen them drop points against both Birmingham and Portsmouth in the last fortnight.

Torres, with a record of six goals in six starts, also seemed intent on providing Benitez with a further reminder of why he paid £21.5m to bring him from Atletico Madrid. His movement, along with that of his strike partner Kuyt, was in stark contrast to the static pairing at the other end of Bent and Julius Aghahowa, who between them are proving that Emile Heskey’s boots are very big to fill. On 29 minutes, Koumas gave the ball away to Kuyt, who sent Torres through on Chris Kirkland. The former Liverpool goalkeeper did well to block Torres’s first shot, only to see the ball rebound off the Spaniard before dribbling wide. Torres then attempted a spectacular scissor kick a minute later when Alvaro Arbeloa’s cross found him unmarked in the penalty area, but the ball flew wide.

Having gone into half time goalless, thoughts of Liverpool’s poor away form of recent years must have come to Wigan, for they started the second half looking full of conviction.

But while they have found goals hard to come by in recent games, Liverpool’s defence has also been rock-solid, though it looked for a moment as though they had conceded a rare goal four minutes after the break, only for Bent to be ruled offside.

Ten minutes later Paul Scharner had a great chance to break the deadlock when a teasing ball from Koumas evaded Jamie Carragher, but though the Austrian managed to flick the ball over Reina, he couldn’t find an extra touch to prevent the ball going wide. Still Wigan poured forward, but then they were caught by an excellent counter. Just as Brown looked about to break through on goal, Mascherano produced another excellent tackle and fed Pennant wide on the left. For the first time in the afternoon, Pennant got a good run at Mario Melchiot and then played a low ball in for Benayoun, who was standing on the edge of the 18-yard box with his back to goal.

The diminutive Israeli turned Bramble one way and then the other, before unleashing a low left-footed shot which Kirkland could only parry into the net. It was a wonderful moment for Benayoun, scoring his first Premiership goal for Liverpool since signing from West Ham in the summer, though some of the celebrations led to a bout of fighting in the stands where a group of away fans appeared to have infiltrated. That was on 74 minutes and Liverpool could have wrapped things up three minutes later when Riise sent Torres through but his radar led him away from goal.

Still Wigan went looking for an equaliser and they missed one great opportunity when Koumas found space on the stroke of full-time down the left and his cross from the deadball line landed perfectly on the head of the unmarked Aghahowa, who somehow nodded wide. Wigan deserved better.

Star man: Mascherano (Liverpool)

Player ratings Wigan: Kirkland 7, Melchiot 7, Boyce 6, Bramble 6, Kilbane 6, Koumas 6, Brown 6, Scharner 5 (Taylor 82min), Skoko 5; Bent 5, Aghahowa 4

Liverpool: Reina 7, Arbeloa 6, Hyypia 6, Carragher 6, Aurelio 6 (Benayoun 56min 7), Pennant 5 (Voronin 82min), Gerrard 5, Mascherano 8, Riise 6, Torres 6 (Sissoko 89min), Kuyt 6