SOCCER/Liverpool - 3 Galatasaray - 2: The script has clearly gone awry. Liverpool are supposed to recover three-goal deficits in the Champions League, not threaten to toss them away this carelessly.
Nevertheless, once they have recovered from the splendour of this breathless occasion, the Merseysiders will bask in the relief this victory offers.
Dominant following Peter Crouch's stunning second goal, the hosts were almost floored by a comeback conjured by Galatasaray, without a win on English soil, which yielded a brace of goals in six minutes around the hour mark from their substitute Umit Karan.
Thereafter, Liverpool creaked, the prospect of succumbing just as Milan had so spectacularly in Istanbul in the 2005 final looming. Had Sasa Ilic not volleyed wide in the closing stages, then watched Hakan Sukur plant a free header straight at Jose Reina, this might have been a night of humiliation. The relief at the end was palpable.
So much has been made of Rafael Benitez's willingness to change his starting line-up it had gone almost ignored that, now his team have generated some momentum, Liverpool will benefit from the freshness the manager has harboured in his squad.
This was the 94th game in succession the Spaniard had instigated changes, a rather redundant statistic given his approach has always been geared towards selecting the players he feels are best suited to dismantling his opponents. In truth, any combination of his forwards might have flourished here. The Turks had been pierced twice by the quarter-hour mark, their defence disintegrating at the merest hint of a Liverpool attack.
As if to vindicate Benitez' approach, the players who have benefited - or suffered, depending on the spin - most from the rotation policy thrived.
Steven Gerrard, beginning in a central berth for the first time in over a month, zipped a fine ninth-minute pass to the flank from where Fabio Aurelio conjured a glorious cross which veered into the six-yard box. Peter Crouch, enjoying a first start in five matches, eased in front of Orhan Ak at the far post to volley his fourth club goal of the campaign.
That was their first Champions League reward in 460 minutes of action. Galatasaray were still dawdling when, five minutes later, Cihan Haspolatli sliced a clearance which was gathered by Jermaine Pennant, bursting between the panicked Arda Turan and Orhan. The winger veered to the byline and crossed to the far post where Luis Garcia, unmarked, nodded into the unguarded net.
Dirk Kuyt and Garcia might have added to the lead before the break, and Faryd Mondragon somehow contriving to deflect a Gerrard attempt from 30 yards over the bar. Yet Benitez still appeared to depart unsatisfied, the odd hint of a Turkish revival clearly playing on his mind.
There was occasional joy on the right for Sabri Sarioglu, exploiting Garcia's eagerness to remain upfield. The Spaniard let Cihan run unchecked on to Ilic's pass, the full back's low attempt turned aside by Reina.
Crouch's second goal came when Pennant and Steve Finnan dispossessed Ayhan on the right touchline with the full back's centre met with an elastic right-footed scissor-kick, the ball pummelled into the net. Crouch may never score a better goal.
But while Liverpool briefly rejoiced in the supremacy their lead offered, Kuyt crunching a shot on to the post with Gerrard's follow-up blocked by the goalkeeper's legs, there remained a defiance to the Turks. Sabri, Hakan Sukur and Umit Karan were each denied in a rat-a-tat of chances before Arda crossed for Karan to convert. Any thoughts that might prove an aberration disappeared when the substitute eked space from Sabri's centre to head a second beyond Reina, with the hosts threatening to fritter away their dominance.
In last night's other Group C game PSV Eindhoven striker Mika Vaeyrynen grabbed the winner in a 1-0 victory at Girondins Bordeaux. Vaeyrynen struck from inside the box after 65 minutes following a one-two with Ivory Coast winger Arouna Kone.
Guardian Service
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Pennant (Sissoko 78), Alonso, Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Kuyt (Gonzalez 66), Crouch (Bellamy 90). Subs not used: Dudek, Hyypia, Riise, Zenden. Booked: Alonso, Finnan.
GALATASARAY: Mondragon, Haspolatli (Karan 45), Tomas, Song, Ak, Sarioglu, Topal (Sas 45), Akman, Turan (Carrusca 86), Ilic, Sukur. Subs not used: Elmas, Buruk, Asik, Kabze. Booked: Akman, Sas.
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
