Benayoun keeps Liverpool alive as Besiktas get a kicking

6 November 2007 23:21

Liverpool´s Yossi Benayoun(R) is congratulated by Andriy Vorodin after scoring against Besiktas during their UEFA Champions League match in Liverpool. Liverpool won 8-0 with a hat-trick for Benayoun.

LIVERPOOL (AFP) - Yossi Benayoun claimed a hat-trick as Liverpool kept their Champions League campaign alive with an 8-0 demolition of Besiktas, their biggest European win in 27 years.

A trio of poacher's finishes from the Israeli midfielder was complemented by doubles for both Peter Crouch and substitute Ryan Babel and skipper Steven Gerrard also got on the scoresheet as Liverpool ran amok.

The five-times winners still have their work cut out in group A but this morale-boosting display at Anfield - albeit one in which the Turkish side's poor defending played a significant role - will encourage them to believe they can go on to clinch a place in the last 16.

That objective is likely to require victories over both Porto, here in three weeks time, and Marseille - beaten 2-1 by Porto on Tuesday - on the French Riviera in early December and the latter task in particular is likely to prove extremely challenging.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was typically low key even after such a goalfest and especially with the performances of Benayoun and Crouch - the latter being heavily rumoured to be on his way out in the January transfer window.

"This competition is very special and you can make a mistake and be penalised for it," said Benitez, referring to their earlier disappointments in this season's competition.

"We knew we needed to win and go forward.

"Today was more about teamwork than Benayoun scoring three goals and all the players played well. We knew we needed to win the last three matches, we have won one."

Crouch was his usual disarming self, even given the speculation about his future.

"I think the last time I won 8-0 was in my schoolboy days!"

"Thankfully we were under pressure but we managed to pull it out.

"I don't want to talk about it (his future) and just enjoy tonight."

For Benayoun it was a case of being equally humble from the former West Ham star.

"It was a good performance from everyone.

"We knew we were with our backs to the wall. I am happy we took our chances and it will give ourselves a chance."

Despite the desperate situation Liverpool found themselves in at the start of the night, Benitez had declined the temptation to gamble on the fitness of Fernando Torres, opting instead to pair Crouch with Andriy Voronin at the sharp end of a line-up commited to, in Gerrard's phrase, going for the jugular of their opponents.

The visitors' only moments of menace came right at the outset of a night that was to take such a disastrous turn.

Twice in the opening two minutes the visitors' Brazilian striker Bobo found space in the box, and he will have been disappointed that the better of his two chances, from Matias Delgado's smart cutback, ended in the side netting rather than forcing Jose Reina into a save.

Benitez's men were soon generating openings of their own however. Voronin, who prodded wide from 12 yards, and Crouch, who was equally wayward with a free header from John Arne Riise's immaculate cross, both spurned glorious opportunities to claim a nerve-settling opener inside the first five minutes.

An increasingly uncomfortable Besiktas had goalkeeper Hakan Arikan to thank for keeping them on level terms with a superb reflex stop at close range to keep out Benayoun's deft flick.

But their backline was finally breached in the 19th minute.

Edouard Cisse's attempt to intercept a Voronin pass only succeeded in playing Crouch into the area and, although Arikan parried his first shot, the England forward was able to pounce on the loose ball and tuck it away from outside the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

It then required a goal-line clearance to prevent a Riise header from thumping into the back of the net, before Benayoun doubled the lead in the 32nd minute.

Riise's quickly-taken thrown down the left touchline caught Ibrahim Toraman on his heels and Voronin turned the defender before spotting his team-mate on the far side of the box.

Benayoun had so much space he was able to bring the ball down with an immaculate first touch before smashing a shot back across the goalkeeper into the opposite corner of the net.

The contest was ended within minutes of the restart when Voronin cut in from the left and played a pass into the area for Riise. The Norwegian's shot on the turn was saved but Benayoun was left with an easy rebound.

The Israeli completed his hat-trick with another tap-in after a Gerrard free-kick pierced the Besiktas wall and was spilled by the goalkeeper.

Gerrard had time to get on the scoresheet himself before leaving for a well-earned rest. Fed by the outstanding Javier Mascherano, the captain played a one-two with Voronin before unleashing an unstoppable shot from just inside the area.

By this stage, Besiktas appeared to be beyond caring and, after flicking in a Benayoun cross for his first goal, Babel compounded their misery by charging down Toraman's attempted clearance to send the ball looping over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Crouch added his second in the final minute of regulation time and the night was summed up when referee Markus Merk did not have the heart to add on any injury time.