Reds surge into semis

Liverpool were able to make light of their first leg deficit as they saw off Benfica 4-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Dirk Kuyt, Lucas Leiva and Fernando Torres did the damage for Rafa Benitez's side, who will now face Atletico Madrid in the last four, while Oscar Cardozo replied for the visitors.

Benfica started brightly, pushing the Reds back early on, but they were undone by a controversial goal on 28 minutes which turned the tide in favour of the hosts.

Kuyt nodded home a Steven Gerrard corner from right in front of the keeper, but saw the assistant referee raise his flag.

Much discussion followed, as both sides argued their case, and in the end Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded his countryman a goal.

Buoyed after taking control of the tie, Liverpool then made it two six minutes later when Lucas raced onto a through-ball from Gerrard and calmly rounded the keeper before slotting into an empty net.

The Reds then notched a third on 58 minutes when Torres rounded off a flowing counter attack to fire home from close range.

Cardozo briefly gave Benfica hope when he drilled a low free-kick past Pepe Reina on 70 minutes, but it was not enough for the Portuguese giants.

Fittingly, Torres had the last word on the night as he calmly chipped in a fourth for the hosts eight minutes from time, securing a 5-3 aggregate success and booking a date with his former employers.

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