Liverpool claim record triumph

A Yossi Benayoun hat-trick, two goals apiece from Ryan Babel and Peter Crouch and a further strike by Steven Gerrard saw Liverpool FC claim a record UEFA Champions League victory as they emphatically swept Beşiktaş JK aside at Anfield.

Dream response

A draw and two defeats from their opening three matches had left the 2005 winners looking isolated at the bottom of Group A, but they responded in the best possible fashion. Two goals to the good at half-time, they ran away with it in the second period while for Beşiktaş, with memories of beating Liverpool a fortnight ago still fresh in their minds, it was a night to forget as they replaced the Reds at the foot of the group.

No tension

If Liverpool and their supporters were tense, there were no obvious signs at the start. Crouch set up Andriy Voronin for the game's first real opening in the fourth minute but the Ukrainian international could not control the England striker's cushioned header, however, and his effort skewed wide. Crouch went close himself soon after, rising as high as only he seemingly can to meet John Arne Riise's cross, and although he headed a metre wide, his persistence would soon pay off.

Crouch strikes

On 19 minutes Crouch grabbed the breakthrough when he was unwittingly released by Beşiktaş midfielder Edouard Cissé, and although goalkeeper Hakan Arıkan parried his initial effort, he reacted quickest to the rebound and steer it home. Buoyed by their positive start, last season's runners-up really took the game to Beşiktaş after that. İbrahim Üzülmez was forced to head the ball off the line to deny Riise, though the Norwegian was instrumental in setting up Liverpool's second.

Benayoun goal

Riise's quickly-taken throw-in found Voronin in space down the left and he picked out Benayoun with a measured cross. The Israeli had been unlucky not to score on 13 minutes when his effort clipped the post but there was to be no denying him a second time as he steadied himself before powering a shot past Hakan Arıkan and into the corner to make it 2-0 on 32 minutes.

Hat-trick complete

Soon into the second half and Benayoun had completed his hat-trick with a pair of tap-ins that owed much to being in the right place at the right time. In the 53rd minute, he side-footed into the unguarded net after Hakan Arıkan had parried Riise's shot into his path and three minutes later, when the Beşiktaş goalkeeper failed to hold a stinging free-kick by Gerrard, the Israeli midfielder tidied things up to claim the first UEFA Champions League hat-trick of the season. Gerrard then blasted in the fifth with the benefit of a deflection in the 69th minute following a neat one-two with Voronin.

Breathless finish

Benayoun turned provider 12 minutes from time, supplying the cross for Babel to outfox Hakan Arıkan with a clever back-heel but there was more than a touch of good fortune about his second when İbrahim Toraman's attempted clearance bounced off the Dutchman's back and looped into the net. With the Kop demanding the eighth, Babel almost answered their calls when he headed against the crossbar but Crouch eventually obliged with a minute to go, his glancing header coming courtesy of another Benayoun centre.