A side who struggle so often to rouse themselves in the Premiership revelled against obliging opponents here last night and condemned Anderlecht to a 10th successive defeat in the competition, even if the Reds' breathless enterprise was undermined by a familiar inability to reflect their dominance in a more convincing scoreline.
This should have been a rout. Instead Rafael Benítez stood flapping helplessly on the touchline in the closing stages as Anderlecht, offered undeserved hope of a point, created a few frantic forays that were repelled - not without a few alarms - by José Reina. The Liverpool manager will have returned to Merseyside in the small hours still troubled by his side's failure to have registered a more convincing score but, with Anderlecht due at Anfield in a fortnight, the holders are on the cusp of qualification for the knock-out phase.
Benítez, predictably enough, preferred to concentrate more on the positive aspects of his team's performance than their profligacy, though he acknowledged that his side had 18 shots on goal yet scored only once.
"To do that away from home is not easy, but we could have done with a second goal to ease our nerves," the manager said. Had a quarter of those efforts found the net, Liverpool would still be above Chelsea on goal difference at the top of the group.
Liverpool could still find solace in victory. Benítez's tactical plan was simple but emphatic in its impact. Anderlecht, pointless if unfortunate in their previous two matches, were aware that only a win would realistically offer them any route out of this group and, with that in mind, their approach was laced with no little desperation. It was also undermined by naivety. While they poured forward in the early exchanges, Mbo Mpenza isolating Sami Hyypia and Christian Wilhelmsson a nuisance on the flank, they were horribly prone to the counter-attack.
With that in mind Benítez had loaded his side with pace, Djibril Cissé, Luis García and John Arne Riise offering bite to sink deep into the Belgians. No other team in the Champions League have enjoyed less possession than the holders this season but with Cissé explosive and García elusive, they can flourish at times.
Bart Goor was denied an opener by Reina's critical early block but as Anderlecht descended further into the gung-ho, the visitors ruthlessly cut them on the break and exposed the home side's defence as the mishmash it is. García should have eased them ahead, first slicing Riise's pull-back over the bar then dragging Cissé's knock-down wide of a post. Yet the holders' dominance was unlikely to go unrewarded for long.
It was appropriate that Cissé should provide the finesse. The French striker has endured a torrid Liverpool career, suffering everything from horrific leg fractures to persistent doubts over his class given his £14.1m club-record transfer. Rumours circulating this summer suggested his days at Anfield were numbered. Yet when he found enough daylight between markers to wriggle through and rasp a blistering volley beyond Silvio Proto, it was his 12th goal in 22 appearances for club and country this term. That suggests he is the nearest thing Liverpool possess to a prolific forward.
Cissé reiterated his desire to stay at the club, as well as his satisfaction at scoring winning goals in successive games. "I'm happy with the way I'm playing," he said and although he still struggles to retain possession regularly, his intelligent movement was pivotal to the visitors' success last night. He remains an enigma, clearly a player of remarkable ability who can nevertheless drive his own manager to distraction. "But he's a good finisher and, tonight, he did his job," added Benítez tellingly.
Liverpool, with Xabi Alonso in a creative role, are rarely allowed to revel to this extent in the Premiership, where teams travel to Anfield in caution and are just as willing to sit deep at home. Yet the Reds would have been more comfortable had others shown any composure in front of goal. Djimi Traoré, spinning free of his marker at the near post, battered a close-range shot that Proto did well to block, though the goalkeeper was helpless when Riise slipped Cissé through only for the striker to dribble a shot wide.
Late forays from Mohamed Sissoko and García, both denied by Proto, would have eased the visitors' nerves when Anderlecht revived for a nervy finale. Anthony Vanden Borre might even have hauled them level but blazed over a gaping net, and Liverpool breathed again. "If we beat them at home [on November 1], we'll almost be there," said Benítez. His side's shortcomings are unlikely to disappear quite as quickly.