... to move within touching distance of a place in the knockout stages of a competition they have come to love.
A point against Real Betis, who were surprising 1-0 winners against Chelsea, at home in three weeks’ time will guarantee Liverpool a place in the last 16 but, while Rafael Benítez, the manager, was right to extol the positives from a supremely assured performance, the European champions’ evening was sullied in the 75th minute when Mohamed Sissoko was allegedly racially abused by Nenad Jestrovic.
The Serb said afterwards that he had sworn at Sissoko only after the Liverpool midfield player called him a “son of a bitch”, but the incident was all the more regrettable, given that the Merseyside club had urged fans to help to stamp out the scourge of racism during a half-time Tannoy announcement.
Having not spoken to Sissoko, Benítez seemed more concerned with an impressive win secured courtesy of goals from the impressive Fernando Morientes, Luis García and Djibril Cissé. “We have to be delighted, the team has played well, kept a clean sheet and scored three good goals, but Betis are very dangerous away, so I wouldn’t like to say we have qualified yet,” Bení tez said.
Given that the 2-0 victory over West Ham United at the weekend represented the 40th successive game that Benítez has failed to field the same team, maybe the fact that he made only one change last night should be considered as something approaching consistency from the meddlesome man from Madrid, Peter Crouch coming in for Cissé.
As he had done on Saturday, Steven Gerrard filled in on the right of midfield, but if the England player was not happy about being asked to play an unfamiliar role, he did not let on.
Gerrard was Liverpool’s brightest player and made his first telling contribution in the 23rd minute, crossing for Crouch, only for the England striker to drill a shot into the advertising boards after García and John Arne Riise, forming a formidable partnership on the left flank, had good shots saved.
Much has been made of Liverpool’s travails in the Barclays Premiership, but given that this was their tenth game in the Champions League this season — one more than they have played in the league — it should probably not come as a surprise that they have found their stride quicker in Europe.
The same cannot be said of Anderlecht, however, who had lost ten successive Champions League games before this, and in the 33rd minute the Belgian team were caught flat-footed at the back when Steve Finnan latched on to to Gerrard’s through-pass and crossed for Morientes, whose volley was athletically repelled by the legs of Silvio Proto. Crouch could only fire the rebound wide.
Morientes would prove far more decisive moments later. Taking up space in the centre of midfield, Gerrard — who else? — clipped an exquisite pass up to the Spain forward, who controlled with his chest, before rifling a stunning shot under the legs of Hannu Tihinen and beyond the partially unsighted Proto. It was his 27th Champions League goal.
Since signing in January, injury has blighted Morientes’s Liverpool career, however, and within seven minutes of the restart he was replaced by Boudewijn Zenden after picking up a knee injury from a first-half challenge with Bart Goor. “We hope it is nothing serious,” Benítez said. “Morientes played very well. He got a goal, which is important for us and him.”
Rather than stultify Liverpool, though, the substitution seemed only to inspire them. With García pushed up to partner Crouch, the hosts looked dangerous with every incessant probe forward and, in the 61st minute, grabbed the second goal their efforts deserved.
Finnan whipped in a cross from the right. García nipped in front of his marker and directed a precise header past Proto from the edge of the area. The Spain winger had spoken in the build-up to the game about how he hopes to emulate Ronaldinho, his former Barcelona team-mate, and this was a goal of which the Brazilian would have been proud.
Cissé completed the romp late on when he nicked the ball off Harry Kewell and slotted past Proto for his sixth Champions League goal this season.
