Crouch: I took my chance and showed what I can do

The England striker has struggled to win a regular place in Rafael Benitez's starting line-up this season but he made an emphatic point as the Reds ran riot at Anfield to keep their Champions League campaign alive.

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Liverpool went into the game knowing that anything less than victory could end their hopes of progressing from Group A and they responded with a magnificent display.

They attacked at every opportunity and Crouch was one of their leading lights, beginning the rout with his first goal in the 19th minute and wrapping it up with his second in the 89th.

The 26-year-old said: "When I'm given a chance I have to take it and hopefully I've done that.

"I was very pleased to get the (first) goal. It got us up and running and once we scored it settled us down and we played some good football. Really it could have been more than that in the end."

Crouch, however, was also quick to praise his team-mates after a performance which secured the club's biggest win in Europe since a 10-1 defeat of Finnish side Oulun Palloseura in 1980.

Yossi Benayoun was the star of the show, scoring a hat-trick and setting up two other goals, while Ryan Babel came off the bench to score twice and head another chance against the bar. Captain Steven Gerrard also got on the scoresheet.

Crouch added: "It's fantastic, that was a great result for us. We were under a bit of pressure in the group.

"We needed a result and got an emphatic one, so we're really pleased.

"It seems to happen when we are under pressure, we pull out our best form. That was the case here. He had to get the right result and we pulled it out.

"We wanted to make an impact right from the beginning and we did that. From then on we made it easy for ourselves by playing good football.

"It's not many times you score eight goals in the Champions League and it was good to be part of it.

"We are our worst critics. We haven't been as good as we would have liked but hopefully we have put that to bed now."

Yet despite the victory, the Reds still have work to do to progress to the knockout stages at the expense of either Porto or Marseille.

They face Porto next at Anfield in three weeks and then travel to France next month. Both are likely to prove must-win games.

"We are not getting carried away," said Crouch. "It's an emphatic win, we scored a lot of goals and we can enjoy it but there is still a long way to go. We have a lot of work to do in this group.

"We said before the game we had to win all our games and that is still the case."

Crouch also reserved special praise for man of the match Benayoun, who comfortably produced his best performance since his summer move from West Ham.

"He is fantastic," Crouch said of the Israeli. "They were great goals. He scored a hat-trick and the goalie didn't have a chance. It was nice for him to have a bit of space. Give him a bit of space and he is fantastic."