RELIEVED Rafael Benitez admitted he had to turn to Fernando Torres to help his second-string Liverpool sidestep a Carling Cup scare last night.
The Spaniard’s side edged past Coca-Cola League One outfit Crewe Alexandra with a 2-1 home victory in their third round tie.
Daniel Agger gave Liverpool the lead with a brilliant 20-yard free-kick on 15 minutes, only for Michael O’Connor to equalise for the visitors 10 minutes later.
Lucas’s 58th-minute header ultimately proved decisive, but the home team’s inability to score a killer third led to some nervy moments in the final minutes in which Crewe’s Tom Pope should have sent the game into extra time. Despite the Merseyside derby looming large on Saturday, Torres made a surprise appearance from the bench midway through the second half.
And Benitez explained: “It was a little too close for comfort in the end. As always in these kind of games, if you don’t kill the game off then the opposition keep going.
“We were a little bit nervous towards the end but we had enough chances to score the third goal. That’s why I brought Torres on, to try and score the third goal.
“Every competition is important to us. We knew they’d have to go forward and have to leave more space at the back looking for the equaliser, and you could see Torres is a player who can finish the game.
“I just wanted to give Torres a run-out. I was going to do the same with Robbie Keane but Philipp Degen had a problem and I had to bring Jamie Carragher on instead.”
Degen was helped off the field 17 minutes from time, and it emerged later the Swiss international, who was making a belated debut following a groin operation, had suffered two broken ribs.
Benitez fielded an entirely different starting XI to the one that was held to a goalless draw by Stoke City at Anfield at the weekend.
It gave a chance to a number of fringe players, with Agger scoring his third goal for the club and Lucas his second.
“We scored two good goals, Agger’s was a fantastic shot and Lucas is a player that likes to get into the box and can score more goals like the one he scored,” said Benitez.
“We had a lot of young players out there tonight. Some did better than others, but the work-rate was good for them all and the game was quick.
“We had two or three balls that we gave away easily, but we also had two or three chances at the end. If Torres had scored, it would have been easier for us. A third goal would have finished the game.”
Agger’s appearance was only his second in a year after his previous campaign was decimated by a metatarsal problem.
And Benitez added: “Both Agger and Sami Hyypia were good in defence. It will be a difficult decision for me now to decide who plays at centre-back as both were playing really well.”
Meanwhile, Crewe’s first team coach Steve Holland praised the performance of his players.
“If you can come to Anfield and have that chance to get something at the end of the game, it reflects what I thought was a good performance from the players,” he said. “You do wonder what might have been had that chance at the end gone in.
“Torres coming on perhaps was a compliment about how well we were playing. There was a mass brawl to get his shirt at the end!
“I thought there would be one or two more of the younger players playing for Liverpool, and half expected one or two of the reserve regulars to play. When we got the teamsheet we knew all of the names, they aren’t necessarily regulars, but they are good players.
“But when you look at their subs bench, I said to our subs that I didn’t fancy their chances in the half-time seven-v-seven!”
The Spaniard’s side edged past Coca-Cola League One outfit Crewe Alexandra with a 2-1 home victory in their third round tie.
Daniel Agger gave Liverpool the lead with a brilliant 20-yard free-kick on 15 minutes, only for Michael O’Connor to equalise for the visitors 10 minutes later.
Lucas’s 58th-minute header ultimately proved decisive, but the home team’s inability to score a killer third led to some nervy moments in the final minutes in which Crewe’s Tom Pope should have sent the game into extra time. Despite the Merseyside derby looming large on Saturday, Torres made a surprise appearance from the bench midway through the second half.
And Benitez explained: “It was a little too close for comfort in the end. As always in these kind of games, if you don’t kill the game off then the opposition keep going.
“We were a little bit nervous towards the end but we had enough chances to score the third goal. That’s why I brought Torres on, to try and score the third goal.
“Every competition is important to us. We knew they’d have to go forward and have to leave more space at the back looking for the equaliser, and you could see Torres is a player who can finish the game.
“I just wanted to give Torres a run-out. I was going to do the same with Robbie Keane but Philipp Degen had a problem and I had to bring Jamie Carragher on instead.”
Degen was helped off the field 17 minutes from time, and it emerged later the Swiss international, who was making a belated debut following a groin operation, had suffered two broken ribs.
Benitez fielded an entirely different starting XI to the one that was held to a goalless draw by Stoke City at Anfield at the weekend.
It gave a chance to a number of fringe players, with Agger scoring his third goal for the club and Lucas his second.
“We scored two good goals, Agger’s was a fantastic shot and Lucas is a player that likes to get into the box and can score more goals like the one he scored,” said Benitez.
“We had a lot of young players out there tonight. Some did better than others, but the work-rate was good for them all and the game was quick.
“We had two or three balls that we gave away easily, but we also had two or three chances at the end. If Torres had scored, it would have been easier for us. A third goal would have finished the game.”
Agger’s appearance was only his second in a year after his previous campaign was decimated by a metatarsal problem.
And Benitez added: “Both Agger and Sami Hyypia were good in defence. It will be a difficult decision for me now to decide who plays at centre-back as both were playing really well.”
Meanwhile, Crewe’s first team coach Steve Holland praised the performance of his players.
“If you can come to Anfield and have that chance to get something at the end of the game, it reflects what I thought was a good performance from the players,” he said. “You do wonder what might have been had that chance at the end gone in.
“Torres coming on perhaps was a compliment about how well we were playing. There was a mass brawl to get his shirt at the end!
“I thought there would be one or two more of the younger players playing for Liverpool, and half expected one or two of the reserve regulars to play. When we got the teamsheet we knew all of the names, they aren’t necessarily regulars, but they are good players.
“But when you look at their subs bench, I said to our subs that I didn’t fancy their chances in the half-time seven-v-seven!”
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