Stephane Henchoz, one of the heroes of Liverpool’s 2001 Cup Treble, has announced that he is quitting professional football, according to reports in the Daily Mirror. The 34-year-old has been without a club since the end of last season and has decided to start studying for his coaching badges, rather than placing more strain on his battered and bruised body.

Henchoz was signed by Gerard Houllier in the summer of 1999, for a fee of £3.5 million, after the relegation of his old club, Blackburn Rovers. Paired with another new signing, Sami Hyypia, Henchoz formed one half of the best central defensive partnership seen at Anfield since the legendary Hansen and Lawrenson duo of the 1980s.

Stephane was a precursor to Jamie Carragher, if you like, with his brave last-ditch challenges and willingness to throw himself in front of everything in the penalty area. He also, it must be said, was rather agricultural (or “no nonsense”, if you prefer!) with the ball at his feet- better safe than sorry, as many defenders have found out over the years. His tough man-marking was a hallmark of Houllier’s sides.

His most famous match was the 2001 FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, when Stephane got away with not one but two goal-line handballs as Arsenal ran us ragged in the first half. Those saves enabled us to keep in touch and, as we all know, Michael Owen did the rest.

Stephane made 205 first-team appearances for the Reds before leaving in January 2005 to join Celtic. Ironically, the Swiss defender’s only Liverpool goal came against the Scottish giants, albeit in a pre-season friendly. He never scored a goal in a competitive match for us.

We all wish Stephane well in his future pursuits and hope that he becomes a successful coach.

The Spaniard had a ‘baptism of fire’ when he started against Manchester United but managed to give an excellent account of himself before being replaced by Ryan Babel on 71 minutes, who netted the winning goal in a 2-1 victory.

Despite admitting that the number 11’s best is still to come, Benitez has been encouraged by Riera’s impact on the team’s attacking displays and is believed to now be in the market for a right sided player of equal quality.

The names that have been cropping up should be familiar with anyone who followed all the names we were linked with in the summer and they take shape in the form of Wigan’s Antonio Valencia and Borussia Dortmund’s Kuba, better known to his parents as Jakub Blaszczykowski.

Premiership followers will be familiar with Antonio Valencia but ‘Kuba’ is also in a similar mould, as a quick and tricky right-sided midfielder / winger. The Pole, aged just 22, is also capable of playing right wing back, which would tick the flexibility criteria that Benitez often craves in his players.

Whilst such signings would increase the likelihood of playing two wingers in the first team regularly, Benitez may just want an option and competition for the right hand side, which Dirk Kuyt has claimed rightfully or wrongfully in the eyes of many.

Valencia is supposedly being watched by Manchester United whilst Kuba remains one to keep your eye out for. If he was to join, Kuba would link up with Philipp Degen once again, who left the Westfalenstadion last summer.

The Slovakian hardman was stretchered off in the closing minutes of the Reds’ 3-2 win over Manchester City at Eastlands on Sunday and it was feared that he may miss the rest of the season with damage to the posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee. However, a specialist was consulted today and the good news is that Skrtel doesn’t require any surgery; indeed, the prognosis is so favourable that the player could be back in action by the end of the year.

This will be welcome news to Rafael Benitez, as he only has Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger as recognised centre-halves for the Champions’ League group phase. Sami Hyypia will be available for selection in domestic competitions but was omitted from the European squad.

All of us at TCAA wish Martin a speedy and full recovery.

Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season as they fought back to defeat Manchester City 3-2 yesterday afternoon. A Stephen Ireland shot and Javier Garrido free-kick had given the hosts a 2-0 lead at half-time but a Fernando Torres brace saw Rafael Benitez’ men draw level before Kuyt’s late winner.

If ever the cliché “a game of two halves” held any water whatsoever, it was for this match. Liverpool were abject in the first period and City were rampant. The home side dominated possession and played with the confidence their new-found status as the league’s richest club must have engendered as Robinho, Elano and Shaun Wright-Phillips caused the visitors’ rearguard all sorts of problems. Fabio Aurelio was caught in possession by the former Chelsea man in the 19th minute and the Liverpool defence failed to deal with his cross. Alvaro Arbeloa’s attempted clearance sat up nicely for Ireland to lash the ball past Pepe Reina and send the home fans wild.

City continued to control the game and extended their lead four minutes before the break. Albert Riera was harshly adjudged to have fouled Wright-Phillips on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area and Garrido stepped up to curl a wonderful free-kick into the top right-hand corner, past Reina’s left hand. It could be argued that the Liverpool ‘keeper might have done better but nothing should be taken away from the quality of the strike. City manager Mark Hughes had said before the match that it was time for his side to show that they can compete with the “big four” and he must have worn a grin the size of the Cheshire Cat’s as he headed into the locker rooms at the interval.

That smile was wiped off his face ten minutes into the second half. Kuyt had already had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Walton early in the second half, the arbiter deciding that Richard Dunne’s tackle had been clumsy but fair, but the Reds were back in the game when Arbeloa broke down the right and his cross was tapped home by the unmarked Torres at the far post. It was Liverpool’s 1,000th Premier League goal. The Spanish striker picked the ball out of the net and it was clear that Liverpool were on the warpath, yet it was City who should have extended their lead in the next attack. Wright-Phillips did well to beat Aurelio and his low cross found Robinho, who was unmarked but looked suspiciously offside, inside the six-yard box. Somehow, the Brazilian’s first-time effort cleared the bar.

Then came the incident which may have turned the match. Pablo Zabaleta lunged in at Xabi Alonso with his studs showing, catching the Spaniard’s ankle. Mr Walton had no option but to show the Argentinian full-back the red card; it was the second successive week that a foul on the Basque playmaker had led to a sending off, after Tim Cahill’s transgression in the Goodison derby last week.

Down to ten men, City decided to try to hold out for the last quarter of the match but the Reds were in irresistible form and showed the kind of attacking brio which had proved hitherto elusive this season. Andrea Dossena came on for Aurelio with twenty minutes left and the Italian broke forward to win a corner. Steven Gerrard corner swung it in towards the near post and Torres eluded Micah Richards to glance the ball home and draw the visitors level. It was one-way traffic now, the home side desperately trying to cling on to a point, and Torres spurned the chance of a hat-trick when unbelievably side-footing over from a couple of yards out. If Robinho’s earlier miss had been incredulous, this was even more embarrassing.

Still, the Reds weren’t to be denied and the breakthrough came in the dying seconds. Yossi Benayoun was set free down the left channel to pull the ball back to Torres, lingering on the edge of the box. El Nino’s first-time shot was arrowing towards the bottom corner, with Joe Hart at full stretch, but took a glance off Robbie Keane. The ball ran straight to Kuyt at the far post and he delivered the coup de grace from three yards out. It was the Dutchman’s first league goal in 27 games but it was a vital one, not only providing three points but showing that the men from Anfield will fight to the very end.

Rafael Benitez asserted after the match that the spirit shown in Istanbul had helped his men (even though only three of the side from that famous night in 2005 featured yesterday) and the fact that Liverpool fought back from a seemingly impossible position augurs well for the future. Still, the Reds will have to be less lackadaisical in future; you can’t expect to pull things out the fire every week.

The only downside for the Reds was a late knee injury suffered by Martin Skrtel. The Slovakian centre-half had a scan this morning and has been diagnosed with posterior knee ligament damage. It is unclear for how long he will be sidelined at the time of writing. Still, Daniel Agger is champing at the bit on the sidelines and will be keen, after being linked with a move to Real Madrid last week to prove his worth to Rafa and re-establish himself in the side. If the team can continue to play with the vigour and passion displayed in the second half yesterday, the long wait for number nineteen may just be about to come to an end.

Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Garrido; Kompany, Elano (Petrov, 85); Wright-Phillips, Robinho (Evans, 80), Ireland; Jo (Fernandes, 70)

Unused subs: Schmeichel, Ben Haim, Hamann, Sturridge

Liverpool: Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio (Dossena, 70); Alonso, Mascherano (Keane, 71); Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera (Benayoun, 81); Torres

Unused subs: Cavalieri, Agger, Lucas, Babel

Referee: P Walton Attendance: 47,280

Liverpool took a massive step towards qualification from Champions’ League Group D with an authoritative display against PSV Eindhoven at Anfield last night. Dirk Kuyt, Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard were on the scoresheet for the home side, who pretty much outclassed their hardworking but limited opponents. The win, combined with Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over Marseille at the Vicente Calderón, means that the Reds are long odds-on to qualify for the knock-out stages; the upcoming “double header” with the Spanish side should decide who tops the group.

A boisterous crowd was on hand to witness Rafael Benitez’ 250th game in charge of Liverpool and the manager himself probably couldn’t have selected much more meek opposition if he’d tried. While Liverpool played well in patches, the visitors were nothing to write home about and it would be unwise to get carried away by this performance: let’s not lose sight of the fact that Atletico beat the Dutch 3-0 in Holland in the first round of matches, while PSV’s own fans booed them off the pitch after a narrow win against minnows FC Volendam in Saturday’s Eredivisie fixture.

One positive to be drawn from last night is that Liverpool showed that they can, on occasion, break down teams who come to Anfield solely to defend. The Dutch had a five-man rearguard last night and a wall of four midfielders in front of them, with 21-year-old Nordin Amrabat just about the only PSV player to emerge from the match with any credit due to both his tireless snapping at heels in the centre of the park and his willingness to get forward, although he was caught offside with Frederic Kanoute-style regularity. Early pressure resulted in a corner for the home side; Fernando Torres connected with Gerrard’s delivery with a volley which brought a sharp reflex save by former Manchester City custodian Andreas Isaksson. Unfortunately for the Swede, the ball went straight to Kuyt, who finished calmly and gave Liverpool a vital early goal and their 100th Champions’ League goal since Benitez took the helm in 2004.

Any thoughts that this would bring PSV out of their shells didn’t last long, as Huub Stevens appeared to decide that his best bet was to reach half time without suffering any further damage. Xabi Alonso tried a long-range shot which drew a save from Isaksson and Kuyt and Torres both went close before Keane finally broke his duck for the club. Kuyt did well to release Torres down the right; El Nino showed Carlos Salcido a clean pair of heels and his cross was met by Keane, arriving between the penalty spot and the near post. The Irishman’s first-time finish with his right foot was crisp and the ball went in off the far post, leaving Isaksson with no chance. If the goal was good, the celebration wasn’t: less of the forward rolls and pistol crap please, Mr Keane!

Two-nil at half time, then, and with the Reds attacking the Kop in the second half it really did look as though the scoreline could get embarrassing for the visitors. However, not for the first time, Liverpool seemed to just go through the motions in the second half, with the game safely wrapped up. PSV tried to raise their game but couldn’t cause too many problems (they only mustered two shots on target over the ninety minutes) and Yossi Benayoun, returning from injury, was brought on to replace Albert Riera on 68 minutes. Keane left to a standing ovation with a quarter of an hour remaining, replaced by Lucas Leiva. A sloppy PSV back-pass a minute later released Torres and he was brought down by Dirk Marcellis, who was booked for the challenge. Twenty-five yards out and slightly to the left of the PSV goal, Fabio Aurelio rolled the ball to Gerrard; the captain’s thunderous hit flew to Isaksson’s right and into the back of the net. Gerrard notched his 100th goal for Liverpool (in his 448th game) and sent the Kop delirious.

The Reds were probably taking things a little too easy as Balasz Dzsudzsak whipped in a cross from the right a couple of minutes later: Jamie Carragher mistimed his header and Martin Skrtel let Danny Koevermans steal in front of him to nick one back for the visitors. Still, that was as good as it got for PSV and the Reds strolled through the rest of the match unruffled. Stiffer tests lie ahead.

Liverpool: Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio; Kuyt, Gerrard (Babel, 82), Alonso, Riera (Benayoun, 68); Torres, Keane (Lucas, 75).

Unused subs: Cavalieri, Agger, Dossena, Mascherano.

PSV: Isaksson; Kromkamp, Marcellis, Brechet (Pieters, 46), Simons, Salcido; Culina, Bakkal, Amrabat, Mendez (Dzsudzsak, 76); Wuytens (Koevermans, 60).

Unused subs: Cassio, Rodriguez, Zonneveld, Nijland.

Referee: F Brych (Germany) Attendance: 41,097

The winger has been frustrated in his attempts to earn a regular spot in the Reds side since his arrival from Birmingham City in 2006.

Stoke City failed with a deadline day bid for the Englishman after he turned down a move to the Britannia Stadium and Blackburn Rovers were linked throughout the Summer.

Aston Villa could be set to test his resolve to stay at Anfield in the January transfer window. Pennant has only made one appearance so far this season - in the 2-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night.

Liverpool continued their Premiership form against Everton in similar vein to that against Stoke. Dominating much of the first half with ease but failing to deliver the cutting edge in the final third, where Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres tried their luck once again.

Despite taking control of the first half, it was Everton who enjoyed the best chances. Tim Cahill was a whisker away from hitting the back of the net but couldn’t adjust his feet on the edge of the 6 yard box to meet an Everton corner.

Record signing Fellaini had another excellent chance for The Toffees, after Reina spilled a cross and it fell to the Belgian who hammered it towards goal, only to be denied by Jamie Carragher on the line.

Fortunately the chance wouldn’t have counted with or without Jamie Carragher as Mike Riley blew up for what was a very soft foul on Pepe Reina.

Much to the disappointment of any type of football fan, Mike Riley and his whistle had been a permanent part of the first half, calling up some 22 fouls or more in 45 minutes, interrupting any type of flow to the game.

Fans of both teams had held concern for Riley being in charge of this game, after he booked a total of eight players in last week’s Chelsea – Manchester United tie.

Liverpool’s forward line of Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane has looked malnourished. The Spaniard in particular has been showing signs of frustration after being outmuscled on the ball and often frequenting that spot beside Mike Riley in order to complain. The number nine was called over for a quiet word with the referee to calm him down.

Torres has been involved in some chances but like most of the team has opted for the wrong option at vital times, ignoring a lonesome Dirk Kuyt on the edge of the box in order to spin and have a shot at a heavily packed Everton goal line.

Keane has also had momentary lapses but has shown his quality at times, linking play and looking troublesome.

Second Half –

The second half kicked off in Everton’s favour, Yakubu working some good space in the box before falling over with no contact. Despite desperate attempts by Andy Gray to find some contact, there simply wasn’t any.

It didn’t get much better as Torres’ frustration continued into the second half and boiled over after being outmuscled off the ball once again. Flinging his hand up at the linesman earned the stuttering Spaniard his inevitable yellow card.

It took until 51 minutes until we managed to enjoy the first shot on target, which said a lot about both sides poor finishing in the first half.

It was Liverpool who provided the first goal as Keane and Torres linked up for the Spaniard to score on 57 minutes, venting his frustration in the best possible way as he had the freedom of the Everton box to make a tricky finish look easy.

Not content with his earlier effort, Fernando Torres struck again on 61 minutes to put the game beyond Everton. An impressive tackle from Jagielka on Kuyt merely poked the ball into the Spaniard’s path who rattled it into the net.

The following minutes would see a flurry of goals but unfortunately ones that were disallowed. A Riera shot was parried by Tim Howard before the winger slotted it across the box for Dirk Kuyt to tap home from close range. However, the ball had gone out of play for a corner before being slid across the box.

From the resulting corner, Fernando Torres completed his hat trick with an excellent finish from a tight angle but Riley deemed a Kuyt ‘nudge’ on Lescott was enough to rule it out. To call it a nudge would be overkill.

The game started to whittle out as Liverpool held onto the ball well and Everton continued to lump it forward, playing into Liverpool’s hands. Benitez began to sew up the team (it’s not tinkering when we win) by bringing on Aurelio for Riera, the Brazilian providing a lot of running when coming on.

Frustrations started to mount in what was a stop-start game, as Arbeloa had a nibble at Tim Cahill and received a yellow card. Cahill soon had a tackle on Xabi Alonso, punished with a red card, as now expected in the derby. Replays showed that perhaps the red card was harsh.

The game was coming to a close and the sending off didn’t really change much in terms of flow in the game. Benitez brought on some fresh legs in the form of Lucas and Pennant for Alonso and Keane, the Irishman didn’t score but can be proud of his performance today.

The final minutes saw Saha have a stinging effort go wide but the highlight of the final minutes would be Everton’s elation at the fact that Gerrard put a free kick over from close range, perhaps not realising the score.

The game was bossed by Liverpool and will be a welcome answer to the questions that the Stoke game posed.

Swing by the forums for the match thread and vote in our MOTM poll*, where Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres are currently drawing.

*requires account

“I haven’t played at Wembley so for me personally, to go there and get a game would be great,” he told the official website.

The defender was part of the Gerard Houllier sides that picked up a lot of silverware during the 2001/2002 and following seasons. Many of which were played at the Millennium Stadium in Wales, whilst the new Wembley was being built.

The Finland defender was left out of the Champions League squad for the group stages earlier this season and didn’t hide his disappointment when talking about the competition. Speaking after the Carling Cup victory over Crewe he said:

“It was a good battle and I’m happy because maybe the League Cup is a competition in which I will play, so I’m very happy we got through to the next round and hopefully it will mean another game for me.”

The first 2 minutes would have suggested as much, as a Steven Gerrard free kick which hit the back of the net was wrongly ruled offside, despite elated celebrations of the midfielder’s false century strike.

The sound of the referee’s whistle didn’t please many around Anfield with the exclusion of Tony Pulis, who had clear intentions of packing the defence and hoping for the best. A genuine goal inside 2 minutes may have been the first of many.

Gerrard’s disappointment didn’t spill over in the way it would have, had it been in the closing minutes of a game, this time merely raising his eyes to the skies in somewhat embarrassment of celebrating a non-existent goal. With the best part of 87 minutes left on the clock. It wouldn’t be much of a problem doing it again, surely?

Or so we thought. Pulis’ side stacked their defensive area high and wide with players carrying only the intention of not conceding a goal. Throw in and corners, fine, but no goals. This probably worked out quite well, given that Liverpool had on average one million corners and failed to do absolutely anything with them.

Needless to say, the performance was a toothless one. Reminiscent of last season when draw after draw saw games where we didn’t get beat, but games that slowly beat to death our title hopes as points continually fell off the board.

The only positive I can draw from the game is that we started to look like we actually wanted to score around 60 minutes. That urgency usually displayed in the last 5 minutes was visible from much earlier in the game but was applied with little to no imagination or class.

Our play was predictable in terms of structure and as usual, we sat around and waited for Torres or Gerrard to pull a rabbit out of their backside to bail us out. Not even the late addition of Babel could help spice the game up as chance after chance went begging, shot after shot sailed into the Kop and our set pieces for the most part were the ugly ‘Before’ shot, in one of those how-to-do-it-right football training videos.

Claims of Stoke being anti-football aren’t going to be justification for us not winning the title and neither are poor referee decisions unfortunately. I’m sure if Stoke stay up, few fans will be complaining of ‘Anti-Football’. Maybe they’ll come back to Anfield next season and try to play like Arsenal and end up getting beat 7-0, everyone’s a winner then.

It’s ruthless at the bottom as it has to be at the top - dispatching of teams simply has to be done as often as possible, regardless of what is asked and today against a side tipped to go down, we had no answers.

My annoyance doesn’t come from this draw but knowing there will be many more of them to come this season, as putting men behind the ball at Anfield can give a good chance of getting points.

Some of Kuyt’s shooting was horrible, but equally was Torres’ and Keane’s, obviously sighed at much less and by fewer - maybe it was the rock of Salif Diao in midfield for Stoke that sealed the point for them.

It not only feels like a defeat but it completely devalues and depreciates the importance of the league result a week previous.

Roll on Crewe Alexandra, who I’m sure are shaking in their boots after that dismal display.

Liverpool began their 2008-09 Champions’ League campaign with a valuable away win, although they had to come from behind at the Stade Velodrome. Before a sell-out (and very noisy) crowd, the Reds fell behind to Lorik Cana’s goal but a special moment from Steven Gerrard restored parity and the captain then converted a penalty to establish a lead which, although narrow and precarious, was never relinquished.

Rafael Benitez made five changes from the side which had performed so well in defeating Manchester United at Anfield last Saturday. Fabio Aurelio had a minor calf injury, so Andrea Dossena returned at left-back; Lucas, back from international duty, replaced Xabi Alonso in midfield; Albert Riera, who had started his Reds career so well against the reigning Premier League and European champions, was replaced by Ryan Babel; Robbie Keane was replaced by the returning Fernando Torres, who had been sidelined for two weeks with a hamstring injury; and Gerrard returned to captain the side, with Yossi Benayoun assuming his normal position on the bench. This meant that Liverpool returned to the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Gerrard playing just behind Torres, which had served them so well towards the end of last season.

Marseille started the game brightly, with Benoit Cheyrou (younger brother of former Liverpool midfielder Bruno) controlling the centre of the park and Hatem Ben Arfa, recently signed from French champions Lyon, looking lively just in front of him. The pace of Bakary Kone and physical presence of Mamadou Niang kept the visitors’ rearguard on its toes and Martin Skrtel received an early booking for an unnecessary challenge from behind on the tricky Ben Arfa.

Despite the home side’s pressure, it was Liverpool who created the better chances. Steve Mandanda did well to tip a far post header from Torres, after a corner, over the bar and El Nino then did well to knock the ball down to Dirk Kuyt, whose lay-off was struck fiercely towards the bottom corner by Gerrard. Mandanda, France’s new number one national ‘keeper, plunged quickly to his left to make an excellent save. In between, Babel had fired wastefully over after turning his marker exquisitely in the penalty area and another header from Torres, who was patently rusty, drifted onto the roof of the net.

The game was far more open than many Liverpool away games in Europe have been over the last few seasons, flowing from end to end, and it came as no great surprise to see Marseille take the lead in the 23rd minute. M’Bani played the ball forward to Cheyrou, whose wonderful first-time chip over the top found Cana in space. Liverpool had attempted to hold a high line but Jamie Carragher, in possibly his only mistake of the night, had played the advancing Marseille skipper onside and Pepe Reina was, unusually, hesitant to come off his line. Cana galloped on gleefully to tuck the ball past the stranded Spaniard and send the home fans into paroxysms of delight.

Their joy was short-lived. Only three minutes later, the visitors were level. Torres dispossessed M’Bani on the halfway line and advanced to the edge of the Marseille penalty area. His pass found Kuyt in support on the right and the Dutchman played a short pass back inside to Gerrard. The ball was slightly behind him but the captain somehow managed to wrap his right foot around it and make the ball swing viciously from right to left. Mandanda could only stand rooted to the spot as the ball nestled into the net to his right. It was, quite simply, a brilliant finish from Gerrard and one fit to go towards the very top of his long list of great goals.

Six minutes later, we had taken the lead. Carragher’s long ball released Babel on the left of the home side’s box and the attacker beat Ronald Zubar for pace. As he stopped to control the ball, Babel’s trickery teased the hapless defender into sticking his leg out too late. Zubar’s fubar could only lead to one thing and Konrad Plautz had no option but to point to the spot. Gerrard stepped forward and tucked the ball low to Mandanda’s left, in off the post, but Herr Plautz ordered that the kick be retaken, due to apparent encroachment. The Liverpool captain wasn’t fazed and placed the ball in almost exactly the same spot, although the intervention of the post wasn’t required this time, and set off wild celebrations among the small travelling contingent at that end of the ground. The Reds remained in control for the rest of the half and deserved their lead as the first forty-five minutes came to an end.

However, the second half proved to be an altogether different kettle of bouillabaisse. Marseille were obviously sent out with instructions to step up the pace and harry their illustrious opponents and Liverpool were unable to get into any sort of rhythm. The home manager, Eric Gerets, had signalled his intentions towards the end of the first half, sacrificing his defensive midfielder M’Bani for the more creative Matthieu Valbuena in a tactical change, and the little attacking midfielder, scorer of the only goal in OM’s shock victory at Anfield at last year’s group stage, proved to be another livewire. Ben Arfa soon tired and was replaced by Karim Ziani as the hour mark approached and the Moroccan spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise when Kone’s delightful backheel found him unmarked near the penalty spot. Ziani could only blast over.

The Marseille full backs, the tireless Laurent Bonnart on the right and the more muscular Taye Taiwo on the left, were getting forward to good effect and making life hard for their counterparts. This foraging, complemented by the tireless work of Cana and Cheyrou, forced Liverpool into errors, with Lucas in particular looking overwhelmed at times and earning a booking soon after the restart. If the decision to begin the game with the young Brazilian ahead of Xabi Alonso, who had been excellent on Saturday, had been mystifying, the reasons why he was kept on when we desperately needed someone who could control the pace of the game are known only to the manager himself. Riera was brought on for the tiring Torres, which meant that Babel moved up front into the lone striker’s position, and Benayoun soon replaced Gerrard in the hole, meaning that the captain was left stranded one goal short of his hat-trick and on 99 goals for Liverpool in total.

Babel was denied by a fantastic save by Mandanda in the 75th minute: Riera’s clever work down the left led to the ball ending up at the young striker’s feet six yards out. His smash seemed certain to fly into theback of th net and establisha  two-goal lead but the goalie somehow spread himelf, at point blank range and with a fraction of a second in which to react, and block the shot. If Gerrard’s first goal was the highlight of the match, this save wasn’t far behind.

The home side pushed on in the last few minutes and Niang wasted a good opportunity with a couple of minutes left, his header from Taiwo’s cross going narrowly wide. The striker felt that he’d been pushed in the back by Alvaro Arbeloa and he may have had a point. There was one final chance for Niang in stoppage time but his crisp shot was straight at Reina’s feet and the keeper managed to block.

The Reds had hung on for a precious away win (Atletico Madrid also won, 3-0, in Eindhoven in the group’s other game last night) but never looked like repeating the 4-0 drubbing they imposed on their hosts at the Velodrome last season. “Coming from behind to win three times means our mentality is good but that we have to improve in defence,” said Benítez after the match. Steven Gerrard, interviewed on television, seemed very disappointed by the second half performance but three points is three points and with a home game against PSV in a fortnight’s time next on the horizon, Liverpool look in a good position to qualify from the group.

Marseille: Mandanda; Bonnart, Zubar, Hilton, Taiwo; M’Bani (Valbuena, 41), Cheyrou, Cana, Ben Arfa (Ziani, 58); Kone (Sambassa, 75), Niang

Unused subs: Riou, Zenden, Kabore, Erbate

Liverpool: Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Dossena; Mascherano, Lucas; Kuyt (Keane, 86), Gerrard (Benayoun, 69), Babel; Torres (Riera, 64)

Unused subs: Cavalieri, Degen, Agger, Alonso

Referee: K Plautz (Austria) Attendance: 45,000