BESIKTAS BLITZED BY RAMPANT REDS.
8 - 0 BABYYYY!!!!!!!!!!
Yossi Benayoun netted a hat-trick, Peter Crouch and substitute Ryan Babel both grabbed braces and there a goal for skipper Steven Gerrard as Liverpool leapfrogged their opponents into third place in Group A and kept their Champions League hopes alive.
Elsewhere, Porto beat Marseille 2-1 to take over top spot in the group, Tarik Sektioui and Lisandro Lopez finding the target for the Portuguese side to deepen the French club's current crisis.
At Anfield, if Rafael Benitez's side were feeling the strain of a nation's scrutiny, it did not show as they put in a wonderful free-flowing, attacking performance to which a poor Besiktas side simply had no answer.
From the first whistle, the Anfield crowd were treated to a feast of offensive football as finally the summer's big spenders clicked as a unit and showed their American owners exactly what they are capable of.
Dirk Kuyt was left on the bench after a miserable performance at the weekend, and with record signing Fernando Torres still out injured, Crouch partnered Andriy Voronin in the latest attacking blend preferred by Benitez.
And the pair combined well as early as the 4th minute to fashion a chance, Crouch using his height well to nod down to his strike partner. But the Ukrainian was harried out of his shot by a posse of Besiktas defenders and the chance went begging.
Crouch again caused problems with his aerial presence just minutes later, heading wide of the mark from a Fabio Aurelio cross when he perhaps should have done better.
On the other flank, Alvaro Arbeloa was also a major cause for concern for the Turkish side, and he got forward at every opportunity, effectively being employed as a second right midfielder.
It was the Spaniard who burst through unchallenged after ten minutes but just as it seemed he was about to pull the trigger, Lamine Diatta, the Senegal defender, moved across to stamp out the danger.
Arbeloa then fed Benayoun at the near post three minutes later, but the Israeli fired wide before Crouch also went wide from a Voronin cross from the other flank.
Liverpool's dominance finally paid off in the 19th minute, Crouch justifying his selection with a determined finish at the second attempt following Hakan Arikan's intial save, after hesitation in the Bestiktas defence had allowed him a run through on goal.
The hosts went two up just after the half-hour mark as Benayoun netted the first of his three, taking a touch to control Voronin's far post cross before rifling into the back of the net.
Two goals to the good at the break and Liverpool rightly retired to the dressing rooms with a confident swagger, but nothing could have prepared Besiktas for the onslaught they were about to face in the second half.
Memories of the Turkish side's victory in Istanbul a fortnight ago rapidly vanished as the Reds ran riot.
Benayoun started the second period rout, finishing into an empty net after keeper Hakan Arikan spilled Jon Arne Riise's shot into the Israeli's path in the 53rd minute.
The midfielder then completed his hat-trick three minutes later with a carbon copy finish, this time after Arikan found Gerrard's free-kick too hot to handle.
Gerrard got in on the act on 69 minutes when he finished off a superb passing move involving Javier Mascherano and Voronin before Babel - on as a substitute for Fabio Aurelio - gloriously flicked home from close range to make it six.
Babel got his second soon after, although the Dutchman had an element of fortune to thank after Ibrahim Toraman's attempted clearance hit him on his back before looping over Arikan and into the back of the net.
The summer signing from Ajax could himself had a hat-trick, only his header thudded against the cross bar with six minutes remaining, but the last word went to Crouch, who headed home from Benayoun's cross as time ran out.
Besiktas striker Bobo registered the visitors' one threatening moment, bringing a save out of an otherwise redundant Jose Reine with a diving header moments before Babel hit the bar at the other end.
Courtesy of Yahoo! Eurosport UK.
EDIT:
I can't embed, I don't know why so here is the link to the Gr-8 goals. (;
http://www.dailymotion.com/search/8-0/video/x3etav_liverpool-80-besiktas-resume
And, tomorrow's the last exam. :D AD MATHS, I'm taking you downnn.
Yossi Benayoun netted a hat-trick, Peter Crouch and substitute Ryan Babel both grabbed braces and there a goal for skipper Steven Gerrard as Liverpool leapfrogged their opponents into third place in Group A and kept their Champions League hopes alive.
Elsewhere, Porto beat Marseille 2-1 to take over top spot in the group, Tarik Sektioui and Lisandro Lopez finding the target for the Portuguese side to deepen the French club's current crisis.
At Anfield, if Rafael Benitez's side were feeling the strain of a nation's scrutiny, it did not show as they put in a wonderful free-flowing, attacking performance to which a poor Besiktas side simply had no answer.
From the first whistle, the Anfield crowd were treated to a feast of offensive football as finally the summer's big spenders clicked as a unit and showed their American owners exactly what they are capable of.
Dirk Kuyt was left on the bench after a miserable performance at the weekend, and with record signing Fernando Torres still out injured, Crouch partnered Andriy Voronin in the latest attacking blend preferred by Benitez.
And the pair combined well as early as the 4th minute to fashion a chance, Crouch using his height well to nod down to his strike partner. But the Ukrainian was harried out of his shot by a posse of Besiktas defenders and the chance went begging.
Crouch again caused problems with his aerial presence just minutes later, heading wide of the mark from a Fabio Aurelio cross when he perhaps should have done better.
On the other flank, Alvaro Arbeloa was also a major cause for concern for the Turkish side, and he got forward at every opportunity, effectively being employed as a second right midfielder.
It was the Spaniard who burst through unchallenged after ten minutes but just as it seemed he was about to pull the trigger, Lamine Diatta, the Senegal defender, moved across to stamp out the danger.
Arbeloa then fed Benayoun at the near post three minutes later, but the Israeli fired wide before Crouch also went wide from a Voronin cross from the other flank.
Liverpool's dominance finally paid off in the 19th minute, Crouch justifying his selection with a determined finish at the second attempt following Hakan Arikan's intial save, after hesitation in the Bestiktas defence had allowed him a run through on goal.
The hosts went two up just after the half-hour mark as Benayoun netted the first of his three, taking a touch to control Voronin's far post cross before rifling into the back of the net.
Two goals to the good at the break and Liverpool rightly retired to the dressing rooms with a confident swagger, but nothing could have prepared Besiktas for the onslaught they were about to face in the second half.
Memories of the Turkish side's victory in Istanbul a fortnight ago rapidly vanished as the Reds ran riot.
Benayoun started the second period rout, finishing into an empty net after keeper Hakan Arikan spilled Jon Arne Riise's shot into the Israeli's path in the 53rd minute.
The midfielder then completed his hat-trick three minutes later with a carbon copy finish, this time after Arikan found Gerrard's free-kick too hot to handle.
Gerrard got in on the act on 69 minutes when he finished off a superb passing move involving Javier Mascherano and Voronin before Babel - on as a substitute for Fabio Aurelio - gloriously flicked home from close range to make it six.
Babel got his second soon after, although the Dutchman had an element of fortune to thank after Ibrahim Toraman's attempted clearance hit him on his back before looping over Arikan and into the back of the net.
The summer signing from Ajax could himself had a hat-trick, only his header thudded against the cross bar with six minutes remaining, but the last word went to Crouch, who headed home from Benayoun's cross as time ran out.
Besiktas striker Bobo registered the visitors' one threatening moment, bringing a save out of an otherwise redundant Jose Reine with a diving header moments before Babel hit the bar at the other end.
Courtesy of Yahoo! Eurosport UK.
EDIT:
I can't embed, I don't know why so here is the link to the Gr-8 goals. (;
http://www.dailymotion.com/search/8-0/video/x3etav_liverpool-80-besiktas-resume
And, tomorrow's the last exam. :D AD MATHS, I'm taking you downnn.