For the first time in the five years that Rafael Benitez has been in charge, Liverpool went into the weekend before a Champions League quarter final thinking that this, rather than the midweek clash, was the must win game. If anyone still doubts whether progress has been registered this year, then that simple fact underlines just how much Liverpool have moved forward.

Not that anyone was thinking of progress for most of the match which, for long stretches, looked like leaving Liverpool once again thinking of what could have been. Then up stepped Yossi Benayoun to score a goal that swept away the doubts over his commitment following his decision to play for his national team.

This result means that Liverpool keep up the pressure at the top. Whatever happens, all the remaining games have to be won for the challenge to be kept alive till the end.

Good Game
Rarely troubled, Pepe Reina’s handling was impeccable as he kept another clean sheet. Just as with Reina, Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel didn’t have that much to do although Andy Johnson always tries that little bit harder against Liverpool. Not that this did him much good on this occasion. Alvaro Arbeloa was quite subdued throughout the game but overall he didn’t do anything particularly bad.

The star of the defensive line, however, was young Emiliano Insua. Good and strong in his tackles, he gave Liverpool another dimension when he moved forward. Intelligent in his link up play, his ability to get the ball across no matter how much space he has is impressive. One of the best players on the pitch.

The much maligned Lucas came in for Javier Mascherano and did a decent job in keeping Danny Murphy subdued. For most of the first half, Fulham seemed baffled by the inclusion of Andrea Dossena at left wing but the Italian did extremely well in the first half before fading away in the second. Hit two crossbars which, on another day, would have certainly led to two goals apart from forcing Shwarzer to a great save in the opening minutes. Improving.

Whilst it is easy for players to lose composure on days like this, the fantastic Xabi Alonso kept tight control whatever was happening, spraying accurate passes irrespective of distance. Unlucky not to have scored and my man of the match.

Whatever the situation, you can always rely on Steven Gerrard to keep on trying and that is what happened on this occasion even if his passing wasn’t always the most lucid. The same applies to Fernando Torres who came close to scoring but on occasions looked as if he was showboating.

Bad Game
Surprisingly, the player who looked the most tired of all those who came back from international duty was Dirk Kuyt. Overall, he simply didn’t give Liverpool enough width and his decision making was off. Rarely substituted, the fact that he was taken off says a lot.

Substitutes
Contrary to many other occasions Ryan Babbel came on and actually looked like he was interested. Daniel Agger was thrown on simply to eat up a couple of minutes but Yossi Benayoun came on to give Liverpool that added dash of creativity did so in the finest manner possible: scoring the winner.