Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres refloat Liverpool's 'sinking ship'

On the scale of great European nights at Anfield this might not scrape into the top 40 but, as feats of escapology go, it was still a hugely satisfying occasion for Liverpool, given what it would have meant for them to go out of this competition. The Europa League is not a tournament the club would craves but it may yet have therapeutic qualities as they approach the final stages of a difficult, occasionally excruciating season. The pressure on Rafael Benítez could have risen dangerously close to intolerable had Liverpool been eliminated before the quarter-finals. Instead they set about the business of overhauling Lille with equal measures of panache and determination, Steven Gerrard putting them ahead with a ninth-minute penalty before Fernando Torres's two second-half goals showed the Spaniard is close to his predatory best after a season heavily disrupted by injury. These two talismanic figures were outstanding on a night when the only concern for Liverpool was the effect a second game in four nights might have on the players' legs before hostilities are renewed with Manchester United on Sunday. Liverpool put so much into this game their supporters could be forgiven if they find themselves fretting about the sapping effects. There was a heart-stopping moment in the first half when Gerrard went down after an innocuous aerial challenge and took an age getting to his feet, and there must be obvious concerns about facing a United side that has had the whole week to prepare. That, however, is a sacrifice everyone connected with the club will be willing to accept given the prize of invigorating their hopes of ending the season with a trophy – any trophy. Thursday night football, with that peculiar pre-match anthem, is not what anyone at Anfield aspired to at the start of the season but it could not be said that the players looked short of motivation or that there was any sense of this competition being beneath a club more accustomed to the Champions League. Gerrard was a commanding, ubiquitous figure and there were flashes of brilliance from Torres as he scored his first goals for Liverpool in European competition since the quarter-final against Chelsea last April. Torres has now scored five times in as many starts since recovering from a groin injury and, when he and Gerrard are in this mood, it encourages the sense that the team can end the season with a flourish. Benítez's men played as though it was not just the manager who was affronted by Albert Riera's description of a "sinking ship". Lille, a fast, counter-attacking side who have climbed to fourth in le Championnat , arrived at Anfield with a 1-0 first-leg advantage but the raw energy of the home side seemed to take them by surprise. Riera has been suspended by the club until Monday and will be fined two weeks' wages. "We will deal with it internally," Benítez said. "Sometimes, though, you don't need to say too much [in response]. You just look at the way the players stick together on the pitch." Point made. The match was a story of almost incessant pressure on Mickaël Landreau's goal. Only when the score was 2-0, with Lille pressing for the goal that would have turned the tie in their favour, did any nerves creep in. They subsided as Torres pounced on the rebound after Gerrard's shot had been parried by Landreau. Lille will reflect on the moment, just after the half-hour, when Eden Hazard burst through the Liverpool defence and tried to flick the ball over José Reina only for his shot to deflect off the goalkeeper's head. But it was a rare attack. Liverpool's intent was obvious from the start and for long spells their opponents looked as though they had just realised how Anfield, under floodlights, with the Kop in good voice, can inflict stage fright on even the most intrepid travellers. Their performance was riddled with mistakes and the game swung in Liverpool's favour after a nightmarish moment for Adil Rami, the Lille centre-half obligingly sticking out a leg as Lucas ran on to the ball inside the penalty area. Gerrard was calmness personified from the spot and, from that moment, Liverpool played with an assuredness that might not have been expected from a team with so much to lose. Benítez later spoke of Torres still not being fully fit – "he is working very hard with the physios but he can still improve" – but five minutes into the second half the striker reminded us why a case could be made for him to be recognised as the most lethal finisher in Europe. Ryan Babel's through-ball was little more than a long clearance but the hapless Rami misjudged the bounce and from that moment there was an air of inevitability about where the ball would end up. Torres held off the centre-half Aurélien Chedjou and dinked his shot beyond Landreau. When he beat Landreau for a second time it soothed any lingering nerves in the crowd. Liverpool could get to like the Europa League after all.