Fernando Torres Defeats Middlesboro Fighting Club

Fernando Torres was a one-man force at Anfield today, netting a hat-trick against a nervous Middlesboro defense. Boro played like thugs, with no less than five attacks on Liverpool players, an attempted handled goal, and a generally cynical performance. For their part, Liverpool showed none of the dominance they showed Inter midweek.

Tuncay opened scoring, springing the offside trap on a dead ball as Liverpool watched a beautiful free kick. Torres next took advantage of a lapse of concentration from Arca, who played him in beautifully for a shot on goal. The Spaniard could easily have gone down for the penalty, but fought to stay upright and cooly netted. He found his second goal two minutes later with an unstoppable blast from 25 yards out in an attack started at the back by Hyypia. Torres then scored his hat trick by chesting a long ball from Kuyt around a confused Schwartzer and Wheater, who were helpless but to watch his subsequent hooked shot bounce in.

Downing brought one back at the death with a classy goal, but the talking points will revolve around Middlesboro's violence on the pitch. Kicks and swings at Liverpool players abounded. Aliadiere let his team down by swinging at Masherano, who did, to be fair, seem to goose the Frenchman in the cheek. Pogatetz is a loose cannon, a fuse that burns too quickly. Liverpool didn't offer much going forward, but Middlesboro fans should be ashamed of their club's showing. Liverpool only had one change from the team that made Inter look ordinary, Arbeloa in for a suspended Carragher.

Reina: Culpable for the first goal? Not his best showing. 7.

Finnan: Off the pace. Unusually error prone and didn't link well. 6.

Arbeloa: Not a central defender, despite playing in the center of the defense. 6.

Hyypia: Surprisingly good performance, considering how often he's been called on. The match could have looked much worse without him. 8.

Aurelio: Eh. Can't anybody play left back? 6.

Lucas: Liability. Turned the ball over needlessly, defended poorly. Rafa has given him a run, but we have trouble seeing why. 5.

Mascherano: Did well for himself, but looked worse because of all the mistakes his co-holding midfielder Lucas made. 7.

Babel: Aurelio and he do not have an understanding. He often drove in to the middle and found wanting a right boot. 6.

Gerrard: Played in his best position, roving. He was everywhere, and showed good leadership. 8.

Kuyt: Hard work yet again, had an eye for goals, and defended some. Another good showing from the Dutchman. 7.5.

Torres: Three opportunist's goals. Took his schances. 9.

Subs:

Benayoun and Riise didn't bring much, Crouch may not have had a touch in his 90 seconds.

Next Premier League match is against Bolton at home on Sunday the 2nd, shown on Setanta. We make up our West Ham game on the following Wednesday.