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On the scale of great European nights at Anfield it might not even scrap into the top 40 but, as feats of escapology go, this was still an occasion of rich satisfaction for a club that finally seems to have found some affection for the Europa League. This is not a competition the club crave with any historic desire but it could have therapeutic qualities when it comes to the possibility of salvaging something from a difficult, occasionally excruciating season.

The pressure on Rafael Benítez may have risen dangerously close to intolerable had Liverpool been eliminated from this tournament before the quarter-finals. Instead they set about the business of overhauling Lille with equal measures of panache and determination, Steven Gerrard putting them ahead with a ninth-minute penalty before Fernando Torres’s two second-half goals demonstrated that he is back to his lethal best after a season heavily disrupted by injury. The two totem in Liverpool’s side were outstanding on a night when the only concern was of the effect it might have on the players’ legs.

With hostilities to be renewed with Manchester United on Sunday, Liverpool’s supporters could be forgiven if they find themselves fretting about the sapping effects of a second match in four nights. There was a heart-stopping moment for the Kop in the first half when Gerrard went down in an innocuous aerial challenge and took an age getting to his feet, and the home side put so much into this game there must be obvious concerns about facing a United side that has had the whole week to prepare.

Thursday night football, with that peculiar Europa League pre-match anthem, is not what anyone at Anfield aspired to at the start of the season, but it could not be said that they looked short of motivation. Gerrard was a commanding, ubiquitous figure and there were flashes of brilliance from Torres on the night he scored his first goal for Liverpool in European competition since the quarter-final against Chelsea last April.

Benítez’s men began the night as though it was not just the manager who was affronted by Albert Riera’s description of the club being a “sinking ship”. Lille, a fast, counter-attacking side who have climbed to fourth in le Championnat, arrived at Anfield with a 1-0 first-leg win, but the raw energy of the home side seemed to take them by surprise and in those early exchanges the visitors looked like joining the long list of clubs who have discovered Anfield is a place that can inflict stagefright on usually the most intrepid travellers.

The early breakthrough did much to sooth the crowd’s nerves and it was a nightmarish moment for Adil Rami, the Lille centre-half obligingly sticking out a leg as Lucas ran on to the ball inside the penalty area. It was a gift that Lucas saw coming, the Brazilian taking full advantage as he sprawled to the floor, and Gerrard was calmness personified from the penalty spot.

The first half was a story of almost incessant pressure on Mickaël Landreau’s goal. One run from Torres took out two defenders, the first with a nutmeg, the second with a beautiful change of direction and speed, only to shoot into the side netting. Other chances came and went, most notably two headers from Daniel Agger at corners, and there were long spells when Liverpool’s quick, precise passing prized open large and inviting gaps.

The flow of the game was so one-sided there was a sense of near shock when Lille finally produced something noteworthy. Eden Hazard was the most impressive player in the first leg and the way he burst through Liverpool’s defence just after the half-hour mark suggested once again that the 19-year-old Belgian is a player we might get to hear a lot more about in the future. Liverpool’s defence were beaten and there was little wrong with Hazard’s attempt to flick the ball over the oncoming Pepe Reina except for the fact he was unlucky enough to see the ball flick off the goalkeeper’s head.

The night had begun with the repercussions continuing from Riera’s verbal attack on Benítez, the winger being suspended from the club until Monday when he will be informed he has been fined two weeks’ wages. Yet Liverpool supporters will be far more concerned about keeping the club’s most cherished Spaniard happy and five minutes into the second half Torres reminded us why, when he if fit and sharp, a serious case could be made for him to be recognised as the most devastating finisher in Europe.

Ryan Babel’s through-ball was, in reality, little more than a long clearance but the hapless Rami misjudged the bounce and from that moment there was an air of inevitability about where the ball would end up. Torres held off the centre-half Aurélien Chedjou and dinked the ball over Ludovic Butelle for his fourth goal in his five full games since coming back from a groin injury. There were some nervous moments to follow as Lille searched for an away goal to turn the tie upside down but all the concerns were lifted two minutes from the end when Gerrard’s shot was parried by Butelle and Torres turned in the rebound.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolLilleDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

We bring you the action from Craven Cottage and Anfield as Fulham attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit against Juventus and Liverpool also have it all to do after Lille won the first leg 1-0

Lille are known as the Mastiffs and an unnerved Liverpool retreated from their lair nursing a nasty bite. No matter that Eden Hazard’s late, long-range free-kick was almost certainly intended for the head of a striker rather than the back of the net; it gave Rudi Garcia’s team a deserved first-leg lead.

Unable to score a potentially vital away goal, Rafael Benítez’s edgy side were too frequently wrong-footed by the impressive Hazard – Lille’s best player – and his technically accomplished colleagues. A one-goal deficit is far from insurmountable but Liverpool will have their work cut out if they are to overcome it at Anfield next week and sustain their sole remaining pursuit of silverware by progressing to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

It took 40 seconds for Yohan Cabaye to test Pepe Reina’s reflexes. While his shot prompted a fairly routine save on the goalkeeper’s part, the build-up had left Liverpool’s defence looking as unsteady as men on a trampoline.

Benítez’s players took some time to fathom Lille’s fluid 4-3-3 formation. Whereas Garcia’s side looked comfortable rotating positions and retaining possession, Liverpool seemed stiff by comparison.

Such discipline is all very well but it appeared to be stifling the Merseysiders’ creative impulses with their overall lack of imagination emphasised when a counter-attacking Ryan Babel ran blindly into the path of the Lille midfielder Rio Mavuba.

Benítez’s team have been strong on the break but with Steven Gerrard experiencing the sort of first half when almost nothing he attempted worked out as intended, Lille were not greatly stretched.

Admittedly it took a decent tackle from Adil Rami to prevent Babel from shooting after being put through by a clever Fernando Torres pass but, bar the odd Glen Johnson overlap and a Babel strike repelled by Mickaël Landreau’s legs, following a lovely one-two with Torres, Liverpool looked muted in attack.

Instead, they were frequently more concerned with events at the other end where Cabaye’s elusive darts across midfield were proving difficult to contain and Hazard’s crosses served to warn Benítez that winning the Europa League will be far from easy. Indeed, Jamie Carragher and company must have given thanks that Gervinho, Lille’s much admired young Ivory Coast striker, was unavailable to connect with such centres after being sidelined by injury.

Beaten only once here all season, Lille – sixth in Ligue 1 but just four points behind the leaders, Bordeaux – are formidable on their own patch and possessed the confidence to push for a first-leg victory which would enhance their ambitions of reaching a first ever European quarter-final.

Such hopes may have been dented had Landreau not done well to acrobatically save a menacing Torres header after Lille’s defence had failed to clear the fallout following a Gerrard free-kick that had been parried by the keeper.

Reprieved, Lille rallied. On a night when northern France felt cold enough for snow, Hazard slalomed his way through Liverpool’s defence before letting Reina off with the softest of left-foot shots before Cabaye curled a free kick fractionally over the bar.

Liverpool supporters may have been wondering why Alberto Aquilani once again warmed the bench as Lucas Leiva laboured in midfield but for all Lille’s impressive ball retention, Reina’s lack of involvement suggested that Benítez’s albeit unexciting gameplan was possibly working.

The Liverpool manager must have been delighted to see Torres, all insidious movement and adroit holding-up of the ball, appear fitter by the minute but Gerrard’s failure to make his presence felt was a growing cause for concern. Liverpool’s captain has rarely been so lacklustre.

There was, however, nothing remotely half hearted about Pierre-Alain Frau’s long-range second-half shot, which bounced out of Reina’s hands and left the Spaniard grateful to merely concede a corner.

Lille increasingly tried their luck from distance and Cabaye’s 35-yard screamer swerved narrowly off target while Reina was forced to dive with alacrity to smother another Frau effort.By now Liverpool were increasingly gathering behind the ball and had long since reverted to 4-5-1 rather than a 4-4-1-1 formation. Yet, as so often in the past, dropping deep rebounded on them and they fell behind to Hazard’s 85th-minute free-kick, which bent in from the right-hand edge of the area and evaded everyone including Reina. It could have got worse for Liverpool had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s even later shot not been deflected on to a post.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolLilleLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk