Liverpool	4 - 1	FC Porto
Scorers Torres 19 78 Gerrard 84 pen Crouch 88  Booked Hyypia	Half Time (1 - 1)	Scorers Lopez 33  Booked Paulo Assuncao Stepanov Quaresma

Rafa Benitez named an attacking line-up for the visit of group leaders Porto by recalling Andriy Voronin, Yossi Benayoun and Fernando Torres to his starting XI and he also brought Javier Mascherano back into the frame.

Porto entered the game full of confidence after Liverpool’s disappointing start to their Champions League challenge. Even their record-beating victory over Besiktas in the last game couldn’t dampen the hopes of the Portuguese who hoped to improve their poor record against the English.

But despite the strange decision to leave the ineffective Ryan Babel on the pitch for so long, Rafa’s side eventually made it look easy against a quiet Portuguese side thanks to Torres’ first Champions League goals for the Reds.

Liverpool had the better opening to the game as they looked for a win to keep their group qualification alive. And Torres had a good early chance but saw his shot saved by Da Silva Helton in goal. At the other end, Ricardo Quaresma had Porto’s best chance when he fired wide.

The hosts’ pressure finally paid dividends after 19 minutes when Torres met Steven Gerrard’s cross to give the Reds the lead. Steve Finnan’s effort was put out for a corner and as it was directed in by his Captain, the Spanish striker met the ball and diverted unchallenged it into the back of the net.

Porto were pushed back for the majority of the first half hour as Liverpool dominated the midfield in search of the goals they needed for victory. But against the run of play, they stunned the home crowd with an equaliser. Przemyslaw Kazmierczak rode the challenge of Finnan and crossed for Lisandro Lopez to head past Jose Reina after 33 minutes.

The goal changed the balance of the game and Porto looked a different side. They came into the contest more and finally had the confidence to play more of the game they wanted. Lopez shot narrowly wide when he really should’ve scored, but they couldn’t find another way through before the interval.

Liverpool came out early for the second-half hoping to make as a good a start as in the first 45 minutes. But it was a slower and frustrating start for the Reds, with too many passing mistakes letting them down and conceding possession.

Then they came into the game and pushed Porto back as they began to find their passing game. But the final ball into the box was often lacking in quality, with Benayoun and Babel failing to make as many inroads as if they’d swopped flanks. In fact, both Voronin and Babel were well below par for the Reds and conceded possession far too often as their game became more anxious and edgy, knowing that only a victory would do to keep their qualification dreams alive.

Porto struggled to get into the game and showed flashes of skill going forward, but they found it difficult to get into their stride.

Chances were few and far between for both sides but Liverpool had by far the more of the ball although they failed to do enough with it. Crosses weren’t capitalised on and their confidence appeared to be lacking in the final third. Yet they were still more effective than Porto who soaked up a lot of pressure and almost invited Liverpool to attack, hoping to pick their chances when they came.

Gerrard ended a good move with a good shot into the Kop as Liverpool made a rare scoring chance. It wasn’t a good enough performance from Liverpool which was summed up when Benitez made two substitutions but both times failed to take the disappointing Babel off the pitch, finally replacing him with Dirk Kuyt after 84 minutes.

When it looked as though Liverpool may never find the breakthrough, they finally sealed an emphatic victory with three late goals.

First of all, Torres scored his second of the night to edge the Reds ahead with 12 minutes left after he shrugged off a challenge to meet a pass from substitute Harry Kewell. Then Gerrard put the result almost beyond doubt when he converted a penalty after Milan Stepanov had handled the ball. And Peter Crouch scored the third header of the night when he added the gloss to his team’s performance with just a couple of minutes left.

The two results in Group A, with Besiktas also beating Marseilles, have opened up the race for qualification, leaving just two points separating all four teams. It will all come down to the final round of matches to see who will progress. Porto sit gingerly in pole position with Liverpool goal difference behind the French who they must next play away from home.

Tonight’s result was certainly a hard-fought result for Liverpool but rather covered over the problems that they created for themselves with a patchy display on their home ground. For Porto, while they didn’t do too much in terms of contributing to the contest, they didn’t deserve such a hammering. But they now find themselves, like the other teams in the group, looking for victory in their final game to ensure qualification.


Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Arbeloa, Benayoun (Crouch 71), Gerrard, Mascherano, Babel (Kuyt 85), Voronin (Kewell 63), Torres.

Subs Not Used: Itandje, Riise, Lucas, Sissoko.

FC Porto: Helton, Bosingwa, Stepanov, Bruno Alves, Cech, Mariano Gonzalez (Sektioui 77), Lucho Gonzalez, Paulo Assuncao (Postiga 81), Kazmierczak (Raul Meireles 65), Quaresma, Lopez.

Subs Not Used: Nuno, Pedro Emanuel, Fucile, Bolatti.

Att: 41,095

Ref: Roberto Rosetti (Italy).

By Ben Hughes