A three-goal burst inside six minutes saw Liverpool easily defeat a listless and disinterested Portsmouth at Anfield on Monday night.
Easing the pressure slightly on manager Rafa Benitez, the Reds played more ambitious football than they have been doing of late, and after an enterprising spell of quick, one-touch attacking that brought sights of goal for Steven Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani, the home side took a deserved but fortunate lead.
Fernando Torres’ opener on 26 minutes was an expensive gift from poverty-haunted Pompey, after Steven Gerrard charged down a clearance by ‘keeper Jamie Ashdown and Maxi Rodriguez squared the deflection to the Spaniard for an easy finish.
Barely a minute later, Ryan Babel used a delicate feint to get free of three defenders on the penalty spot and stab home low to the bottom right corner, and then with just over a half hour gone, much-maligned Italian Aquilani got in on the act when a Torres back-heel found its way to him via Gerrard, and he hacked home left-footed from 12 yards out.
As Liverpool continued to pour forward almost uncontested, it was almost four on 51 minutes when Aquilani waltzed into the box and found Gerrard whose shot with his weaker left foot was smothered by Ashdown, with Babel’s placed follow-up from the edge of the box being turned on to the crossbar.
In response, Michael Brown pulled a good save from Pepe Reina but there would be no further goals until the 77th minute, when Torres classily found a half yard in the box to empathically thump home to the bottom left corner.
Nadir Belhadj managed a close range consolation for Pompey with two minutes left but the other main talking point of the half was a possible straight red card for a blatant Gerrard elbow on Michael Brown, with referee Stuart Attwell taking no action although the Reds skipper was substituted straight away. Gerrard may yet face an FA investigation, however.
A good night for Liverpool then, but sterner tests await in the race for fourth - most notably at Old Trafford this weekend - and ultimate judgement on Benitez is merely postponed.