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Liverpool book their quarter-final place thanks to the striker’s brace but another Spaniard, Albert Riera, is forced to walk the plank for insubordination

There were two Alberts missing at Anfield so it was a good thing Fernando Torres was available to bring Liverpool’s allegedly sinking ship into dock. The striker took a while to hit his stride in this game, at times in the first half he barely looked himself, though it was a typical Torres goal that put Liverpool into tomorrow’s draw and, if the club is serious about this competition, he may still be able to get his hands on some silverware yet.

Albert Riera has walked the plank he built for himself with his remarks about a sinking ship and an uncommunicative manager but there was no sign of Alberto Aquilani either after his encouraging performance against Portsmouth on Monday. The rarely seen Italian has picked up a virus at a highly inconvenient moment, though there is every chance Rafa Benítez would have brought back Lucas for this match anyway.

Riera has been temporarily suspended and told to stay away for the rest of the week and, while the Kop may have some private sympathy with his comments, the Liverpool support made a point of chanting Benítez’s name at the start of the match.

With Dirk Kuyt also restored to the team, it was pretty much Liverpool as they have appeared for most of this year, a strong line-up of good players who somehow seem to have forgotten how to play together. It is becoming hard to work out whether the pressure Benítez is working under is transmitting itself to his players, or whether it is the team’s lack of cohesion that is making life so difficult for the manager.

Liverpool may not be quite the force they once were – they would hardly be in this competition otherwise – and they were not about to go out of Europe without a fight. Any vessel that can boast Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in tandem has a good chance of at least staying afloat, though like the team as a whole both those players now appear to be trying too hard and something that was instinctive in their partnership has been lost.

This time last season the pair were combining so well it was being suggested that Liverpool could have won the title had they appeared together more often. Then again this time last season Liverpool were still in touching distance of a title.

While it was Lucas who won the early penalty that allowed Gerrard to wipe out Lille’s first-leg advantage, the determination of Torres was soon apparent. One slaloming run from the right corner flag left two defenders trailing in his wake before a shot was deflected into the side netting.

Torres always seemed to have the beating of Adil Rami, the defender who conceded the penalty, yet was given too few opportunities to try, and mostly in wide positions. He went past Rami twice on the left in winning the corner from which Daniel Agger saw a header stopped on the line after half an hour, then could only watch in admiration like everyone else as Eden Hazard produced the run of the evening but forgot to add the finish, allowing José Reina to prevent what could have been a crucial equaliser and away goal.

Lille put together quite an impressive short spell after that, yet still Liverpool managed to pass up a couple of decent opportunities to seize the initiative before the interval and Torres was responsible for both. First he headed wide from Kuyt’s cross when he would normally have been expected to get his effort at least on target, then he uncharacteristically strayed offside in anticipation of a pass from Gerrard after the Liverpool captain had made an interception in a promising position.

The longer the aggregate score remained level the more hesitant and nervous Liverpool were likely to become. If Lille had realised that, they might have concentrated more on defending instead of being caught out with too many men too high up the pitch to leave Torres a perfect opportunity to strike.

All that happened was that Ryan Babel pumped a high ball forward. Rami misjudged the bounce, Torres did not and, once he was behind the defender, the finish was a formality. That is what Torres is good at and, while this was by no means a vintage Liverpool performance or a particularly memorable European night, while he is around it would be premature to write off Anfield’s season.

Had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showed anything like the same composure in front of goal in the 74th minute, Liverpool’s ship really might have been sunk. Instead Torres’s second of the night ended all doubts.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolLillePaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk