What a difference a week makes! Last week we hammered Basel yet somehow only came away with a draw, whereas tonight we put five past a hapless Russian side, and really it could have easily been double figures.
Ironically, as well as we played tonight, I don't think we were any better than last week.. The result is better obviously, but the performances were very, very similar. The difference this time being that we got the goals which our excellent display merited.
Gerard had said before the match that this "is not a must win situation, it's a will win situation." Comments like that are usually asking for trouble (remember his 'ten games from greatness' quote last season?) but obvioulsy Gerard had seen Spartak play, because there was never any danger of him ending up with egg on his face here. The Moscow side were a total shambles.
It was a role reversal from the last time the sides met. Back then, it was the reds who were in a mess, as a slick Spartak side including Valery Karpin put us to the sword at Anfield. Things have changed since then however, and Spartak are a poor side these days.
However, that's not taking anything away from our performance, as we were excellent. Spartak may be shite, but so are a lot of other teams who have come to Anfield in recent seasons, yet they haven't been ripped apart as the Russians were, so credit should be given to the boys for a very good performance.
Gerard had again shuffled his forward pack, leaving out last week's hero Milan Baros and reverting to the tried and trusted pairing of Michael and Emile. It worked a treat.
Emile has not had many opportunities up front this season, but he's done a steady - if unspectacular - job on the left wing. He looked a lot happier tonight though, especially as it clear from the off that the Spartak defenders were not going to be able to compete with him either in the air or on the floor.
Emile won virtually every header, and if he didn't win it, it was generally because he'd been fouled. By the end of the game he was oozing confidence, and was doing exactly what Emile Heskey should always do, yet for some reason doesn't. By that I mean he was looking to turn his marker and run at the defence. When he does it, he's unstoppable, but he doesn't do it enough. Maybe now that he's got a real fight on his hands to earn a place alongside Michael, he'll do it more often. I hope so, because when he does that, Emile is the best striker of his type you'll find anywhere.
His goals and performance tonight should provide him with a lot of confidence, and with Chelsea coming up this weekend (a team who Emile seems to really dislike as he's always involved in a war with them) it couldn't have come at a better time.
His first goal was a strange one. It was possibly the worst piece of collective defending you'll see at Anfield all season, as Riise's straight ball over the top saw both Owen and Heskey set free on goal. It looked to be Michael's ball, but he left it for Emile, who was almost caught on his heels, but reacted in time to steer the ball past the Spartak keeper.
The way we'd started the game, if we could get an early goal there was every chance that the floodgates would open, and that's what happened. Cheyrou made it two when his fine run was picked out by the excellent Murphy, and the finish was exactly what you'd expect from a player who hit double figures in the French league last year.
Cheyrou was again operating just behind the front two, and although he scored and did some nice things, it's clear that there's still a lot more to come from Bruno. He's slowly finding his feet, and I'm looking for great things from him in a few months once he's properly bedded in. At the moment he's drifting in and out of games, but he's getting better all the time, and as I commented last week, his work rate has improved dramtically of late.
Sami had already tested the keeper when he got his head to a Murphy free-kick from the left flank, and when SuperDan produced another pinpoint cross from the same area, this time Sami was not to be denied, finding the bottom corner with unerring accuracy. Murphy's dead ball delivery from the left is top class, and we get quite a few goals from that particular avenue.
Danny was brilliant tonight. His passing was superb, and some of his close control and skill was a joy to watch. Rumour has it that over at Real Madrid their players have even taken to calling Zidane "Spud" Okay, okay, I made that up, but they should do!
Three nil after half an hour, and it was just a case of how many we'd get. Michael hit the post after a great run, which proved that despite his weekend hat-trick, he's still not getting the luck he deserves. The defender deliberately showed him onto his left side, and with a swagger Michael just left him for dead before nonchalantly clipping the ball over the keeper. It deserved a goal, but it hit the post and rebounded into the arms of the beaten keeper.
Some of the football played was breathtaking, with Gerrard and Murphy pulling all the strings, and Riise charging forward from left back at every opportunity. Carra was doing his bit on the other flank too, and the balance of the side looked very good tonight.
The defence were barely tested, but when they were the magnificent Henchoz was always there with a block or challenge. Sami gets all the plaudits, but right now Steph is overshadowing him. Gerard called him an unsung hero recently, but that's not true these days as Steph's name is now regularly heard reverberating around Anfield and any other ground we happen to be playing in. `He was withdrawn in the second half, presumably to protect him for Sunday's game, and also to give Traore another run out alongside Sami.
By the time that happened, the game was over anyway. Spartak were never going to come back into it, and it was merely a case of how many we'd get. Two more goals arrived in the second half, courtesy of substitute Salif Diao, who showed great desire to get to the back post and force home a header from Heskey's great cross, before Heskey himself wrapped up the game late on after being set up by Owen.
Michael didn't score, but he was really sharp once again, and had a hand in a couple of the goals. He should have scored when the keeper fumbled a Hamann piledriver, but his tame left foot shot clipped a defender before hitting the keeper who was still lying on the ground.
I still don't know what to make of their keeper. He didn't look like a goalkeeper at all. He didn't even look like a footballer, and if I didn't know better I'd say that Spartak just grabbed him out the away end stuck him in goal. He still managed to pull off quite a few saves though, as he had one of them nights when things just seemed to hit him.
Heskey should have come away from this game carrying the match ball, as he missed a gilt edged chance when Murphy's wonderful back heeled pass sent Owen clear, who crossed to his unmarked strike partner on the back stick only to see him produce a tame header straight at the keeper.
Heskey was also denied a blatant penalty in stoppage time. Just how the ref - who was in a great position - didn't give it is anyone's guess. Maybe it was out of pity to the beleaguered Russians.
Overall, it was an excellent display, in which everybody played well. Picking a star man wasn't easy. Hamann was his usual self in the middle, not putting a foot wrong and keeping everything ticking over, Gerrard was excellent, as was Henchoz, and Owen played a big part.
In the end though, I couldn't split Murphy and Heskey. Emile produced the kind of performance which we all know he's capable of, and which he should be doing more often. When he plays like this, it shows just why we can get so frustrated with him when he doesn't reach these standards, but as I said earlier in the report, now that he's got some real competition for a striking place, he'll have to keep up this level of performance. It's just a pity he won't be up against this back four every week.
As for Murphy, he's in the form of his life right now. He's intelligent enough to do everything required defensively, and each week he seems to be adding a new trick to his game. He's great to watch at the moment, and let's hope he can keep it up.
Basel's spanking in Valencia (which should have been their second hammering in a week) means that things are well and truly in our hands now. Win in Moscow, and beat Basel and the Valencia result will probably be irrelevant. That said, on current form I'd fancy us to beat Valencia anyway. We owe them one after the other week.
Team: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz (Djimi Traore), John Arne Riise; Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard (Salif Diao), Bruno Cheyrou (El Hadji Diouf); Emile Heskey, Michael Owen:
