CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Liverpool 2 Roma 0: Perfection in football is as rare a commodity as it is in life, but Liverpool came close last night. Not only did they do everything that was required of them by defeating the champions of Italy by two clear goals, and thereby proceeding to the Champions League quarter-finals at the first time of asking, they did so in front of Gérard Houllier, back at Anfield for the first time since his heart scare here in mid-October.
He had been given the best start possible when Jari Litmanen converted a seventh-minute penalty and Liverpool played with such sustained class that just past the hour Emile Heskey's headed second was fully deserved. Roma are no mugs - they lead Serie A again - but there will be no Italians in the last eight.
Despite the boost of having Houllier in the dressing room, Liverpool's goal-scoring task was made more difficult by the absence again of Michael Owen.
His omission was, however, offset by the Roma manager Fabio Capello's decision to leave his prolific striker Vincenzo Montella on the bench. Roma only needed a draw last night, of course, while they have a table-topping clash with Internazionale this weekend.
Capello was out of his seat within seconds once it became clear that Liverpool were set on adventure. That took all of 10 seconds, once Vladimir Smicer lined up alongside Litmanen and Heskey in Liverpool's first attack.
Cappelo's anxiety was understandable. Following a sublime back-heel from Steven Gerrard, Smicer exchanged passes with John Arne Riise before forcing Francesco Antonioli into a full-length diving save. Anfield, already fired up by the mere presence of Houllier, was now at boiling point.
From the resulting corner came a melee; the ball ran to Danny Murphy on the edge of the Roma area and as Murphy steadied to shoot his foot was taken away from him by Marcos Assuncao. The referee Rune Pedersen pointed instantly to the spot and no one from Roma argued. Litmanen stepped up and calmly side-footed the ball home. Anfield erupted.
Providing the back four remained resolute as ever, half Liverpool's job was done. Twice in the next 15 minutes it even seemed that a second was there, Gerrard rocking Antonioli with a fierce free-kick and Riise causing similar problems with a typical diagonal thrust.
Roma must have been dazed by the speed of it all but Emerson and Assuncao began to establish themselves in midfield and 10 minutes before half-time Jerzy Dudek at last saw some meaningful action, first fisting an Assuncao free-kick away under pressure from Abel Xavier, then flapping at a corner from Francesco Totti. Luckily for Dudek, Batistuta missed the same ball.
The interval announcement brought news from Istanbul where the score was still 0-0. That meant Liverpool's two-goal target remained in place, but they were now playing towards the Kop. Roma's response was impressive all the same - off went Batistuta and Lima, on came Montella and Marco Delvecchio.
Potentially that gave the home side a whole new set of problems, though Liverpool bypassed those to an extent by again beginning at a gallop. Heskey and Riise both won corners that had the Kop roaring, but neither came to anything..
Vincent Candela did cause great concern when sweeping across to the right wing and setting up Assuncao. The Brazilian's centre found Totti and his knee-high effort was goalbound until it struck Stephane Henchoz and ran for a corner.
The alarm, and the general upping of Roma's tempo, had Houllier in the technical area for the first time on the hour and he pulled back Smicer into midfield.
Only a couple of minutes later and such caution felt suddenly irrelevant.
Damiano Tomassi conceded a free-kick 35 yards out and was booked for his foul. The pain was then doubled, and more, when Murphy whipped the ball in and Heskey rose highest to nod the ball down beyond Antonioli.
Simultaneously the news came through that Barcelona had gone 1-0 up through Luis Enrique in Turkey. Anfield was bouncing like the famous Ali Sami Yen.
Liverpool assistant manager Phil Thompson believes his side can now win the Champions League. After last night's win and with Barcelona winning 1-0 at Galatasaray, Thompson now reckons the Merseysiders can follow up last season's UEFA Cup win with the biggest prize in European football.
"This is one of the greatest nights ever for the club, and we can go all the way now," enthused Thompson.
"The lads came through with flying colours and they believe they can do it.
"When it comes to the knockout stage they know they can beat anyone - they showed it when winning the UEFA Cup last season."
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Xavier, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Smicer (McAllister 90), Gerrard, Murphy, Riise, Litmanen (Biscan 88), Heskey. Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Baros, Barmby, Diomede, Wright. Booked: Xavier. Goals: Litmanen 7 pen, Heskey 64.
ROMA: Antonioli, Panucci, Samuel, Aldair, Tommasi, Emerson, Assuncao (Cassano 68), Lima (Montella 45), Candela, Totti, Batistuta (Delvecchio 45). Subs Not Used: Pelizzoli, Zago, Zebina, Guigou. Booked: Tommasi, Samuel. Attendance: 41,794
Referee: R Pedersen (Norway).
