Torres on the treble
Fernando Torres hit his third hattrick for Liverpool, and his second in successive Anfield appearances, as Rafael Benitez's side moved back up to fourth in the Premier League table after demolishing West Ham 4-0 on Wednesday.
Benitez's men leapfrogged over neighbours Everton on goal difference after running riot to leave them favourites in the race for the fourth and final Champions League berth with 10 games of the Premier League season left.
Steven Gerrard capped an easy victory with a typical long-range finish in front of The Kop, but the night belonged to Torres.
All three goals showcased Torres's astonishing, lethal touch in front of goal, an inherent awareness of the goalscorer's art, his raw pace and power.
Given the stop-start nature of his debut season in English football and the rollercoaster nature of his team's campaign to date, a return of 24 goals by this stage of the season borders on the amazing
This was another potential minefield for a Liverpool team whose season has been littered with unexpected and frustrating setbacks against sides anchored in mid-table or below.
Birmingham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Reading have shown up Benitez's expensively assembled squad while the stoppage time penalty defeat at Upton Park at the end of January made this something of a revenge mission as Liverpool embarked on the first of three successive Premier League home games before going to Manchester United on March 23.
Benitez's side began the game in determined fashion, looking brisk and business-like and attacking in numbers with width and penetration.
Yet the only time their dominance was rewarded came in the eighth minute. Dirk Kuyt's cross was low and hard, but Torres reacted before Anton Ferdinand could make a clearance and drilled the ball past Robert Green from 12-yards.
At that stage Liverpool's slick play was befitting a side who had experienced just one league defeat on their own ground in over a year and a defence missing Fabio Aurelio and Sami Hyypia looked to be cruising to a 13th Premier League clean sheet.
The omission of Aurelio, in particular, was a surprise given that the Brazilian had scored his first goal for the club in his previous appearance 80 hours earlier yet John Arne Riise marked his first start since turning in an inept display in the FA Cup humiliation to Barnsley with a solid performance while Martin Skrtel's improvement continued.
West Ham were disappointing to say the least. It is 45 years since West Ham last triumphed in a league game at Anfield and Alan Curbishley's team rarely looked like ending that sorry sequence although Liverpool were fortunate to escape unscathed when Luis Boa Morte rounded keeper Jose Reina only for Alvaro Arbeloa to cut out the danger.
Torres killed the game as a contest shortly after the interval when he punished sloppy West Ham defending with a simple header from Kuyt's cross, who seems to have set up as many goals as Torres has scored.
Curbishley reacted by introducing Jonathan Spector but he was clearly not the substitute West Ham's travelling fans wanted to see at this stage. "Boring, boring West Ham," they sang.
Torres was looking more dangerous as the game wore on and the Spaniard was denied his third hattrick for the club in the 66th minute. A cross by Gerrard found him lurking at the far post and his diving header hit a post before rebounding to safety.
He need not have worried. Just 14 minutes later he was celebrating his second successive Anfield hattrick when he showed terrific composure in front of the Kop before Gerrard completed West Ham's second 4-0 drubbing inside a week with a trademark finish from 25-yards.
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