Have Liverpool had easier games than this? Derby and Besiktas are the ones that spring to mind yet those two were at Anfield where you sort of expect teams to feel the pressure. This was Newcastle, a team that has always spent heavily – even if not wisely – and who have lofty ambitions.

By today’s evidence, it is hard to see how they aren’t lower in the table. Apart from Shay Given, none of their players seemed to be good enough for this level.

That their fans decided to boo Steven Gerrard for most of the game, presumably because of England’s elimination, was somewhat surreal given that they don’t have anyone who even comes close to his talent. His goal was the perfect way to shut up these idiots.

Seeing Sam Allardyce being told that he doesn’t know what he’s doing was, on the other hand, enjoyable. The man has got such an inflated opinion of himself, and an irrational dislike of Benitez, that seeing him squirm as his side was swept off the park was well worth it

Good Game
Newcastle were so poor that, apart from Alan Smith’s shot in the first half I don’t think that they ever came close to troubling Pepe Reina. Most of the merit for this must go to the central defensive pairing of Hyppia and Carragher.

Absolutely nothing got past Sami Hyppia today. The big Finn had Oba Martins in his pocket all afternoon and even found the time to flick on Gerrard’s corner for the second goal. A couple of weeks back he was really struggling but has suddenly rediscovered his best form so much that it will be harsh to drop him when Agger finally regains full fitness.

Jamie Carragher was less in evidence, but he still handled Mark Viduka well although the Australian’s tendency to stray offside made his job much easier.

It wasn’t the best of games for Steve Finnan and Alvaro Arbeloa: both easily contained anything that Newcastle threw at them – which admittedly was very little – but very rarely ventured forward.

Momo Sissoko started the game in his usual fashion with a number of farcically misplaced passes. Eventually, however, he started to settle and by the end of the game he looked back to his old self. Tenacious and excellent in winning the ball, if he can build on this game perhaps Benitez will play him as often as the Mali midfielder seems to want.

It was a similar story for Lucas Leiva who started the game tentatively. He too settled down after the first fifteen minutes and put in a highly accomplished performance. As with Alonso, most of his work isn’t spectacular yet it is efficient and what the side needs.

Newcastle fans chose to boo him from the first minute, yet Steve Gerrard didn’t seem to care that much. Personally, I wouldn’t have played him such was his disappointment after Wednesday and I have the suspicion that Benitez would have done exactly that had either Mascherano or Alonso been in a better condition. Ultimately, however, those worries were unfounded as Gerrard put in a man of the match performance.

People will point to Fernando Torres’ series of bad misses but that would be overlooking the simple fact that those chances came about purely because of his speed and intelligence. So frustrated was Habibe Beye with Torres’ movement that by the end of the game he opted to clatter him. In fact, this happens every game and the punishment he gets from defenders is incredible. Yet he simply gets on with it. Class.

There’s no avoiding that Dirk Kuyt’s goal was fortuitous but he works hard to get in space so more than deserved it. The Dutchman hasn’t been playing as well as he can lately – and hasn’t been scoring that many either – so hopefully this will change all that.

Bad Game
It is hard to criticize anyone on days like this but Harry Kewell was a bit of a disappointment. Terribly slow, the game with Australia probably took its toll.

Substitutes
I’ll keep on saying that Ryan Babbel doesn’t look like a winger and today he took his goal like a true striker. He has, however, been showing signs of settling into this position and is increasingly looking like a star in the making. Both John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch came on too late in the game for them to have the opportunity to influence matters.