On the night when Liverpool fans showed their deep passion for Rafael Benitez, Liverpool players reminded everyone of their enduring love affair with the European Cup. In their 150th game in a competition that has given them so many magical moments, Liverpool survived flurries of high-class Portuguese counter-attacking to engineer a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
After such a poor start to Group A, in which they collected only a solitary point from nine, Liverpool have moved up a gear, putting eight goals past Besiktas and now four past Porto. The Great Escape is going well, though a final push in France is required.
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| Clinical: Fernando Torres leaps above the Porto defence |
Victory in Marseille on Dec 11 will carry the Merseysiders into the last 16. In the unlikely event that Besiktas prevail at Porto, Liverpool would require only a draw at Stade Velodrome (Besiktas would then finish Group A winners with nine points, everyone else would have eight, the head-to-head would not suffice, so Liverpool would go through on goal difference – simple).
If Liverpool do progress, the planned meeting between Benitez and the club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, a few days later should be interesting. “Rafa’s going nowhere,” chanted the Kop so loudly their sentiments could have carried across the Atlantic, let alone the Mersey.
If Benitez is going nowhere, Liverpool are going somewhere, came the message from the players. After the outstanding Fernando Torres and busy Lisandro Lopez traded first-half goals, Liverpool were given a brief master-class in the art of possession by their Portuguese guests.
But Liverpool refused to give up, pouring forward time after time, scattering blue-and-white shirts like laundry torn from a washing line, striking three times in the final 12 minutes through Torres, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch. The Kop did not know whether to sing hymns of praise to the players or continue with their endless mantra about Benitez. In the end, they mixed both.
This was a great night for Benitez, in which his ability to set up a team tactically and temperamentally for an individual assignment was again highlighted. Liverpool fans had marched to Anfield in a show of support for their manager, and he needed to prove why they so valued him. He certainly did.
After the demonstration off the pitch, Benitez needed a demonstration on it and his players did not let him down. What last night proved is that if the club are united, as the players were on the field, Liverpool can achieve anything. Benitez and Hicks should aim to operate in tandem as smoothly as Gerrard and Javier Mascherano. Those who walk alone at Anfield tend to walk away eventually.
For all the Kop’s unquestioning loyalty to their Spanish manager, Benitez should also appreciate that Hicks and Gillett have invested substantially in players, notably the £26 million for the wonderful Torres. The athletic, hard-working No 9 represents Benitez’s good judgment in the transfer market and the Americans’ willingness to invest.
Torres struck after 19 minutes. When Gerrard’s corner curled over, he exploited Lucho’s slip, enjoying a split-second of freedom to direct his header into Porto’s net: 1-0. The Kop loved it, and the commitment of the players. Liverpool’s hunger for possession was inescapable; even the artists were doing their share of hunting the ball, putting in sweat-stained shifts for the team. Yossi Benayoun, not one of the game’s hard men, flew into a tackle in midfield.
Liverpool needed help in there. Lucho, a straight-backed Argentine with thunder and lightning in his boots, began to dominate the centre. Porto’s menace on the counter was suddenly becoming painfully apparent to Liverpool’s shaky defence. Sami Hyypia resembled a man being closely shadowed by Father Time.
At times, Alvaro Arbeloa looked on work experience at left-back, not knowing how to deal with the pace and movement of Ricardo Quaresma or the muscular, bustling presence of Lopez, who drifted wide sensing Arbeloa’s discomfort. Porto’s equaliser stemmed from poor concentration by Arbeloa, who failed to react properly to Lopez’s surge into the middle.
When Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, whose name reads like an eye test on an optician’s wall, reached the touchline on the left, the Kop’s alarm mounted. Kazmierczak’s cross was perfect, lifted in to the unmarked Lopez, who headed easily past an exposed Jose Reina: 1-1. Lopez should really have added a second moments later when sent through by Lucho with a glorious pass. Again Liverpool’s defence were found badly wanting but, fortunately for the hosts, Lopez rolled his shot wide.
Porto’s defence were now giving nothing away, proving as unyielding to anyone in Liverpool shirts as Roy Keane was proving in the main stand to autograph-hunters. In front of the former Manchester United captain, Benitez was making his move, introducing first Harry Kewell and then Crouch as Liverpool went for broke. “Attack, attack, attack,” chorused the Kop.
And they did. Kewell assumed a central position and brilliantly created Torres’ second with 12 minutes remaining. The Australian picked up the ball 40 yards out and slipped an eye-of-the-needle pass through to Torres, who darted into the box and slid his shot past Helton: 2-1.
Liverpool had not finished, not by a long way. When Milan Stepanov handled Gerrard’s free-kick, Liverpool’s captain was presented with a chance of a penalty third. Portuguese keepers can trouble the England midfielder but he ignored Helton’s clapping antics to slot the penalty home. As he raced towards the Kop to celebrate, Gerrard paused to clap Helton: 3-1.
Still Liverpool came, Gerrard floating in a corner that Crouch headed in: 4-1. Benitez’s Big Night was complete. More than a few Kopites will have sore throats this morning. But Liverpool and Benitez still have to prove themselves in Provence.
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