Belhadj was a surprise inclusion in the side but Avram Grant's selection was more than justified as not only did the Algerian score, but he also won the battle against former colleague Glen Johnson, who had a mere on his return to Fratton Park.
It was his poor headed clearance after Reina had saved Boateng's shot that led to Belhadj lashing the ball home from a tight angle. Prior to the goal, there wasn't much threat from Liverpool because the Pompey defence (minus Marc Wilson) stood strong and did not allow Gerrard or Torres any space to play.
At the other end of the pitch, Freddie Piquionne worked extremely hard to put Jamie Carragher under pressure constantly throughout the game and also ran the channels really well. There were some outstanding individual performances all over the pitch but this was a great team performance full of work ethic.
Every player in a blue shirt did the club proud yesterday. Of course, we were helped by Liverpool being abysmal and Javier Mascherano's deserved red card after he went in with a nasty challenge on Ben-Haim.
However, a lesson learnt at Sunderland was that at 1-0 up you can never be sure of victory, no matter how poor the opposition are. Steven Gerrard's second half shot took two deflections off Pompey players and it took an instinctive claw from Begovic to prevent Liverpool from equalising.
All worries of a Liverpool comeback were over once Piquionne scored the second goal to kill the game off. The Frenchman's first touch sent the ball into the air and then he turned to volley in a superb goal that capped his best performance in a Pompey shirt so far.
Avram Grant has really made his mark since arriving at the club and we can't complain about a return of seven points from five games, given we've had three of the "big four" in that run and a tricky away game at Sunderland.
The team has a new tactical discipline about it as passes are finding players more often, defenders are in better positions when the opposition attack and the players have a better sense of what their role is on the pitch.
Unfortunately, Pompey remain bottom of the league after Chelsea failed to win at West Ham but are now only three points from safety and only five points separate ourselves from Wolves who sit in 12th place after their win today.
So despite our recent efforts we are still bottom of the league at Christmas which usually means relegation, but I refuse to believe in that "curse" and instead believe that January is the biggest threat to our survival chances.
If reports are to be believed, the board are touting Younes Kaboul and Kevin-Prince Boateng to other clubs as Pompey owe a huge amount of money to the Gaydamaks which is due next month. These two players would command the biggest transfer fees but if they were to leave then we just as well throw in the towel now.
The news that a convicted fraudster who specialises in company liquidation is in charge of Pompey's books is disheartening to say the least and our financial situation may end up crippling any hope we have of surviving if debts are called in next month.
Add to that a transfer embargo and the African Cup of Nations stealing some of our best players and you can see that we face a monumental task to stay in the Premier League. If we manage to do it, it may be the best escape from relegation since I've been alive.
But this win has revived hopes of Premier League survival and all I'm focused on now is the next game at West Ham which is the latest to take the "biggest game of the season" mantle. We simply can't afford to be beaten there but oh what a win would do for our aspirations on the pitch at least!
Pompey Player Ratings
Asmir Begovic: 7 - One brilliant save, James won't walk back into the team when he is fit.
Steve Finnan: 8 - By far the best right back on the pitch.
Tal Ben-Haim: 8 - Monumental performance.
Younes Kaboul: 8 - Won almost everything.
Hermann Hreidarsson: 8 - Strong showing.
Michael Brown: 8 - Got in the faces of the Liverpool players, especially Torres.
Kevin-Prince Boateng: 7 - Supported Piquionne well.
Jamie O'Hara: 7 - Has found his passing range again.
Hassan Yebda: 7 - Fought for everything and worked really hard.
Nadir Belhadj: 8 - Great goal and nullified Johnson's attacking threat.
Frederic Piquionne: 8 - Superb volley that capped excellent showing.
Substitutes
Jamie Ashdown
Marc Wilson
Richard Hughes
Hayden Mullins (Boateng 90): N/A - Stoppage time replacement.
John Utaka
Kanu (Piquionne 90): N/A - Time-eating sub.
Aruna Dindane