Robbie Keane scored his first Liverpool goal in a 3-1 victory.

October 2, 2008

Robbie Keane scored his first Liverpool goal in a 3-1 victory. Over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Ireland striker ended a 10-game goal drought since arriving in the offseason by making it 2-0 in the 34th minute after Dirk Kuyt had put the Reds ahead in the fifth.

“It’s great. I’ve got a monkey off my back, it’s been a few games,” Keane said. “It’s always nice to get the first goal but I wasn’t too worried about it, it was just people talking. I hope I score a lot more for this club.”

Captain Steven Gerrard then put the result beyond doubt with his 100th Liverpool goal in the 76th. Danny Koevermans pulled one back for PSV two minutes later in a rare foray forward, but Liverpool - a five-time European champion - was able to open the group stage with two victories for the first time.

The win gives Liverpool a perfect six points after two games in Group D while PSV is still without a point.

“If you go so quickly behind it’s always going to be difficult to come back against a team like Liverpool that plays fantastically well,” PSV coach Huub Stevens said. “There was a difference in quality. People made individual mistakes and if you do that you will get punished.”

The victory in manager Rafa Benitez’s 250th match in charge added to growing sense of expectation at Anfield, with Liverpool making its best start to a Premier League campaign in 12 years in the quest for a first English title since 1990.

“It was almost the perfect night,” Benitez said. “It was a really good game for us with lots of positive things, a solid performance with balance and quality.”

“Now the important thing for the players is to calm down and keep doing the same thing,” he said, already looking ahead to Sunday’s match at Manchester City.

Liverpool captured just one point from its first three group stage matches last year, and had to win its last three to advance.

A repeat of that frantic finale looks unlikely, as the Reds wasted no time putting themselves in control of the match.

Gerrard whipped a corner in from the right and Torres was only denied by goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson’s right leg. But Kuyt, who netted the goal against Standard Liege that clinched the group stage berth, was ready to fire the rebound low past the former Manchester City goalkeeper.

Keane appealed for a penalty in the 20th when his advance was halted by Carlos Salcido’s challenge.

But the trademark summersault the Anfield crowd had been waiting almost three months for finally came as Keane started to justify the 19-million-pound (US$37.9 million; euro24.1 million) transfer that brought him from Tottenham to his boyhood club.

Torres danced around Salcido on the right flank and sent a precision cross for Keane to volley low into bottom left.

In lashing rain in northern England, Liverpool took more than 40 minutes to add a second, but never looked like surrendering its advantage.

Dirk Marcellis brought down Kuyt, providing Gerrard the opportunity to rifle past Isaksson with a fierce 25-yard (meter) free kick that etched his name deeper into Liverpool history with his 100th goal - a rarity for a midfielder.

“It’s fantastic for me but we came to win the game and to get in the driving seat in the group,” Gerard said. “It’s always a fantastic feeling scoring in front of the Kop and it’s nice to say ‘Thank you’ for their support over the years.”

Liverpool was caught out amid the celebrations, allowing Koevermans to grab a consolation for the Dutch champions when goalkeeper Pepe Reina was called into action for the only time on the night.

Later this month, Liverpool travels to Atletico Madrid, which beat Marseille 2-1 on Wednesday.