Liverpool stick with stricken strikers

This anaemic display was not typical of Liverpool's pre-season, which has been laced with goals, but it was indicative of familiar toils up front. Djibril Cissé remains the only striker to have scored in their qualifying games and, though he offered pace and gleaned reward by prodding in Luis García's cross late on for his third goal of the campaign, he still has his doubters.

The Merseysiders' threat remains from midfield, principally from Steven Gerrard, and while Liverpool lack the bite that will be needed once the Premiership is under way, doubts will persist over the sense in shipping out last season's leading scorer.

Baros cut a lonely and increasingly uninterested figure in the directors' box, though the number of potential suitors for his signature continues to dwindle. Everton's hopes of luring the Czech across Stanley Park were receding last night despite the fact that the player and his agent, Pavel Paska, had both made it clear they were more than happy to make the controversial move.

The stumbling block remains the record £7m fee Everton would need to raise for the the 23-year-old. The current record signing at Goodison Park is James Beattie at £6.5m - the extra £500,000 has been paid after European qualification - and Everton's board would struggle to meet the asking price for Baros. With Aston Villa yet to revive their interest after seeing a £5m bid rejected, the Czech could languish in limbo a while longer.

The forward signed autographs merrily enough before kick-off though, once the game was under way, he spent more time texting on his mobile phone than watching the contest. That much was understandable given the lamentable game that spluttered before him. A Lithuanian journalist summed up the performance by asking Benítez post-match: "Why did Liverpool play so lousy tonight?"

This was a lacklustre display, pepped only by Mohamed Sissoko's busy energy on his home debut in midfield. Around him, Liverpool were far too pedestrian even if, with only SK Tirana or, more likely, CSKA Sofia barring their passage to the group stage, they have a while to rediscover their European form.

Fernando Morientes offered little and was withdrawn at the interval, and Peter Crouch departed soon after the break. His tight hamstring required medical attention and the manager is sweating on the doctor's report.

Cissé and García arguably proved the home side's most potent pairing, with the Frenchman at least showing glimpses of his quality. He battered one shot across goal and later forced Sarunas Kilijonas to save when clean through. Inevitably, however, it was Gerrard's introduction that broke the visitors.

The captain made his impact felt within two minutes, his slippery cross dribbling through Kilijonas's weak save to establish the midfielder as the first Liverpool player to score in five successive European games. He now sits only four goals off Ian Rush's continental haul of 20, and six behind Michael Owen's record of 22, with seven already to his name this summer. "I didn't want a night off," said Gerrard. On this evidence, Liverpool can ill afford to give him one.

Cissé, conjuring pace to leave the Lithuanians all a jitter, prodded the second late on after Sami Hyypia had headed against the bar and Boudewijn Zenden had seen a volley nodded off the goal-line by Irmantas Zelmikas. "Kaunas were compact and didn't allow us any space, but the important thing is that we scored twice and went through," added Benítez. The Spaniard, with Baros on the periphery, has much to ponder.