As positives go, Rafael Benitez will rarely have gone back home in a more pleasant mood. A win that guarantees top place in the group, a vibrant performance by players who up till now had struggled to impress, key men finally given a rest and three academy products given their opportunity. In all, an almost perfect night which allows Liverpool to shift their focus fully on the league.

Good Game
Blameless for their goal, Diego Cavallieri looked safe throughout the game, showing that he is indeed an able deputy to Pepe Reina. The central defensive line up of Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger worked well enough as they easily coped with the little that PSV could muster. So too Alvaro Arbeloa even though he will be wondering just why the referee chose to book him. Following up from a good game against West Ham, Andrea Dossena once again did well where his defending is slowly improving and his attacking play more confident.

In the build up to this game, Benitez hinted that he was expecting more from Javier Mascherano. Having helped PSV go into the lead thanks to a sloppy clearance, he gave his boss further food for thought with a shaky display peppered with a number of mis-hit passes. As with the rest of the team, however, he progressively got better in the second half.

Thankfully for Mascherano, there was Lucas Leiva who, probably eager to prove a point, played very well on the night. Strong and determined when going on the ball, he was always a step ahead of the rest with his passing precise to boot. Among the best players on the pitch.

Perhaps it is something to do with the Dutch air but the same goes for Ryan Babel who scored an all-important equalizing goal and then terrorized the PSV defence with his running. On the opposing flank, Albert Riera was less incisive yet scored a fantastic goal so it is hard to fault him

Another great goal was scored by David N’Gog and he too had a positive night to answer the recent criticism. Strong and with good technique, he held off the PSV defenders and was impressive with his link-up play.

And finally there is Robbie Keane. He may have failed to score but he was much improved particularly in the second half when PSV just couldn’t cope with him. This might seem overly generous, but he was critical in turning the game in Liverpool’s favour and as such is my man of the match.

Bad Game
On a night like this, how can you say that anyone had a bad game?

Substitutes
One of the most pleasing aspects of the night was seeing Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly making an appearance here. Of the three, Darby was perhaps the most impressive as he showed that defensively he is ready enough. Spearing gained in confidence as the game wore on whilst Kelly didn’t have much to do because, by the time he came on PSV had already given up. Still, it is a positive sign for the trio and gives them hope for the future. Then again, Benitez did the same with Lee Peltier, Miki Roque and Danny Guthrie back in 2006 but none of them managed to really progress at Liverpool.