Liverpool vs. Debreceni VSC

The Dutchman is now Liverpool's third-highest scorer in this competition and they were more than thankful for his eventual winner in the final seconds of the first half.

Rafael Benitez took charge of his 300th Liverpool match as the Reds produced their 100th victory in this competition, but the Spaniard would have wanted a better display than this to mark a little piece of Liverpool history.

Debrecen almost gave their 2,000 travelling followers something to celebrate on the half-hour when Martin Škrtel's clearance fell to Péter Czvitkovics and the midfielder returned the ball with interest, his rising drive bringing a fingertip save out of Pepe Reina.

There were barely a couple of seconds left in the first half when Kuyt forced the ball home after Vukasin Poleksic had palmed out a Fernando Torres drive.

Liverpool improved after the break, which was not difficult, and Gerrard smashed a swerving 25-yarder against the crossbar before Yossi Benayoun went on a brilliant run past a string of defenders before forcing Poleksic into a fumbling save at the foot of the near post.

Debrecen began to scent the opportunity of an equaliser, notably when Leandro slipped a pass beyond the home defence for Coulibaly. The French striker lifted the ball over Reina but not towards goal and Carragher headed clear, before László Bodnár had a shot deflected wide from the ensuing corner.

That Liverpool sent on the defensive Javier Mascherano for the inventive Benayoun with three minutes left, and then Aurelio for Kuyt in injury time, said everything about Benitez's concerns and frustrations about what he was watching.

He certainly could not afford to see a couple of points thrown away by a piece of sloppy defending and there were certainly a few of those.