There were grander occasions in 2005 when Harry Kewell craved the adulation showered upon him here. The finals of the League Cup, the Champions League and the Fifa Club World Championship had, for various reasons, passed him by to deliver frustration when he had hoped to flourish. Liverpool will accept the consolation that the Australian's resurgence is better late than never.
When the fourth official hoisted the substitutes' board midway through the second half on Saturday Kewell departed to the rare din of a standing ovation, denied only his third full 90 minutes of the calendar year by his manager's recognition of just how integral he has become.
The European champions have only once won 11 league games in succession in a single season but that is the feat they will attempt to match at Bolton Wanderers this afternoon. If they are to emulate the side of 1982 they will need their winger offering the balance and bite he provided so impressively here.
The 27-year-old has reason to wish to forget the past 12 months, when groin and Achilles injuries anchored his form and tarnished his reputation. Now, as he approaches full fitness, he more resembles the tearaway who revelled spectacularly at Leeds en route to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The vicious whip has returned to his left boot, whether he delivers crosses or shoots.
There was skill and even pace on show against West Bromwich Albion's deep-lying defenders and Kewell, pinching himself as long-lost confidence flooded back, ran riot.
"We've spoken about the wide areas and how we need players who can beat defenders, and Harry can do that," said Rafael Benitez, whose patience had threatened to snap last season when he was at odds with his £5 million midfielder over his rehabilitation.
"Sometimes you don't know how difficult it is for a player who wants to play but is still injured. He tries, though sometimes it's difficult to believe because you just never know (whether he is fit). In Harry's case, I think he had bad advisers around him. Now he's focused on his game and that's best for him and us.
"I always had faith in him. It's just good to see him working really hard.
"The first time I saw Harry play was with Leeds against Manchester United, against Jaap Stam. He played really well. He's the kind of player you need as a manager, the kind you want to sign. But he's had injuries, problems, and we were disappointed. Now we've supported him, given him confidence, and he's giving us crosses and dribbles."
He might have scored a hat-trick in the opening quarter but for the excellence of Tomasz Kuszczak in Albion's goal. Liverpool and Kewell ripped into Albion, the Australian battering shots from distance, then from inside the area, and finally a neat shot from an angle. Each time Kuszczak conjured a save.
John Arne Riise struck a post, moreover. But early in the second period Kewell drifted wide and crossed immaculately for Peter Crouch to head into the corner for his seventh goal in December.
Liverpool were never threatened thereafter, though they were somehow denied further reward.
Kuszczak's performance will have drained the optimism from two Liverpool goalkeepers. Jerzy Dudek, sitting on the sidelines without a first-team game to his name this season, must wonder whether his place in the Poland squad will be lost if his compatriot continues to excel. Chris Kirkland, on loan at Albion, has been unable to regain his place after injury and will struggle to displace Kuszczak; his chances of making England's World Cup squad are dwindling with each save the Pole produces.
"I've got to be fair to Tomasz," said Bryan Robson. "Chris will be concerned, but I'll speak to him in the coming weeks."
It was one of the England team's regulars who left Robson drooling. Steven Gerrard was, by his high standards, subdued but he still dominated with such energy and purpose that Albion's three-man central midfield was swallowed whole. "He's one of the best midfield players in the world, if not the best," said Robson. "He's good in the air, he can pass a ball 60 yards or five yards, he's got great pace, good stamina, he's strong, he can tackle. That's what a great midfield player is all about."
Robson would know. He was left to pluck consolation from the fact that, a year previously, his side might have sunk without trace when confronted by the suffocating quality Liverpool generate these days.
Albion were rugged and resolute in defence, with Curtis Davies growing in stature, but their failure to retain possession invited the home side to pour at them. This was a mismatch; a tighter contest awaits Liverpool at the Reebok.
