Torres on fire as Reds hit six

At Anfield yesterday, the only wagers worth taking were on how many goals Liverpool might score and which of his imperious personnel manager Rafael Benitez would permit an early rest.

For the record, the answers were six and Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun.
 
"Six was good, but it could have been more," argued Benitez. "We created a lot of chances and were playing with absolute confidence."
 
And what of hapless Hull City? Say what you like about manager Phil Brown but his bravery cannot be questioned. Yesterday he gave a Barclays Premier League debut to 18-year-old centre-half Liam Cooper, a giant of a boy and not without the confidence to berate his experienced but lax colleague Ibrahima Sonko. All the same, Torres must have rubbed his hands with glee beforehand.
 
The most surprising aspect of Torres' opener was that it took 12 one-sided minutes. Emiliano Insua neatly fed Albert Riera, whose low, first-time cross found Torres. Sonko obligingly backed off and the Spaniard expertly dispatched his sixth goal of the season.
 
The floodgates, it seemed, had been opened. Yet the wonder of football is that it rarely goes entirely to plan. Hardy foraging from Geovanni allowed Paul McShane to cross from the right. Before you could say 'Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink', the Dutchman had headed it back. There still seemed no real danger, but Martin Skrtel's feeble header fell to Geovanni, who volleyed past Pepe Reina.
 
Wisely, Liverpool continued as if nothing had happened. The red tide swept forwards and Andy Dawson lost possession to Benayoun, whose cute ball played in Torres. Sonko was more laissez-faire than proactive and, showing all his exquisite predatorial instinct, Torres beat him, then Boaz Myhill before rolling the ball home.
 
Two minutes after the re-start, Liverpool's work was as good as done. Benayoun made another sublime pass to Torres, who again made mincemeat of Sonko before shooting through McShane's legs and beyond Myhill for his first Anfield hat-trick since West Ham succumbed in March 2008.
 
"Fernando was very good, but he can do better," cautioned Benitez ominously. "We signed him as much for his potential as for his current quality."
 
Hull foolishly switched to damage limitation. In the 61st minute, when Insua found Gerrard on the left, Liverpool's linchpin knocked over what looked like a cross. Either way, it sailed over Myhill and into the top corner. Gerrard had the grace to look sheepish.
 
Benitez took off Torres to a standing ovation, but still Hull struggled. Riera went close and Glen Johnson hit the sidenetting, but a fifth did not come until the 88th minute, when Ryan Babel dinked home Dirk Kuyt's low cross.
 
With an exhausted Hull barely able to manage a jog, there was even time for an especially cruel sixth when Reira's drive inadvertently clipped the back of Babel's heel and looped over Myhill.