Liverpool 3 Anderlecht 0: Premiership managers need no invitation to curse Chelsea these days, though Liverpool will share some of Arsene Wenger's' antipathy for the Londoners today. The holders would have secured their passage into the last 16 with this comfortable victory last night had Jose Mourinho's side defeated Real Betis in Seville. As it is, qualification will have to wait.
Such was their dominance that, with Liverpool top of the group, Chelsea's failure should only postpone the inevitable, though Rafael Benitez would have liked to have been able to concentrate solely on domestic matters now. Instead, this tie was tainted late on by the dismissal of the Anderlecht's Serbian substitute, Nenad Jestrovic, after only five minutes on the pitch.
The forward was sent off by Kim Milton Nielsen, never one to shy from controversy, after appearing to mutter something at Mohamed Sissoko, with whom he had just clashed. The Mali international did not react to the seeming abuse, though the full implications of the dismissal may only become clear when the referee's report lands with Uefa.
Anderlecht arrived saddled with a dismal record both in this competition and in England. Their previous 10 Champions League games had been lost, stretching across three campaigns, and they had departed defeated on all 12 of their previous visits to England with an aggregate goal difference of -31. That hardly boded well and, the odd busy foray into enemy territory aside, there was a resignation to their approach here which was always likely to leave them beaten yet again.
The principal surprise was that it took the holders so long to exploit that vulnerability. Liverpool were bright and energetic, as they invariably are once the Champions League anthem has blared upon their entry to the arena, yet it took them half an hour of huff and puff to prise the Belgians open. By then, frustration was simmering at the lack of pace and confidence in the home front line, where Peter Crouch and Fernando Morientes had been paired together.
Morientes will have felt better by the break. He might have scored after 33 minutes, Steven Gerrard having sent Steve Finnan scurrying wide only for the striker to meet the full back's cross with knee rather than the side of his foot. Silvio Proto, horribly exposed, managed to palm the ball out with Crouch poking the rebound miserably wide of the near post, though Anderlecht's luck did not hold.
Within 60 seconds, Steven Gerrard's pass found Morientes who, having eluded Hannu Tihinen and chested the ball into his own path, battered a stunning angled drive from the edge of the area which flew in off the far post. It was the Spaniard's 27th Champions League goal yet only his sixth in 27 appearances for the Merseysiders since his £6 million move from Real Madrid in January and, as such, was celebrated with gusto.
How Liverpool needed Crouch to follow his partner's lead. The England striker twice headed over in the opening quarter, then skewed a third attempt wide before missing from Proto's parry. His endeavour was clear, though too often his finish was tentative, stripped of confidence as he searched for a first goal in his 13th appearance for the European champions.
Thankfully, his team-mates were proving less profligate. Jamie Carragher, meeting Gerrard's corner at the far post, should have extended their advantage only for Proto to gather, though the goalkeeper was helpless when Luis Garcia skipped ahead of Tihinen and flicked home a glorious header from Finnan's cross.
Djibril Cisse, replacing Crouch, slid in to add a third goal a minute from the final whistle, adding gloss to the home side's dominant display.
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard (Kewell 78), Alonso, Sissoko, Luis Garcia, Morientes (Zenden 52), Crouch (Cisse 72). Subs Not Used: Dudek, Hamann, Josemi, Warnock. Booked: Sissoko. Goals: Morientes 34, Luis Garcia 61, Cisse 89.
ANDERLECHT: Proto, Zewlakow, Juhasz, Tihinen, Wilhelmsson, Vanderhaeghe (Pujol 70), Deman, Goor, Akin (Jestrovic 70), Zetterberg, Mpenza (Baseggio 82). Subs Not Used: Zitka, Deschacht, Hasi, Traore. Sent Off: Jestrovic (75).
Referee: K Milton Nielsen (Denmark).
