Steven Gerrard once again saved the day as European champions Liverpool struggled to beat Lithuania’s FBK Kaunas 2-0 at Anfield, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said on Tuesday.Gerrard came on as substitute to inspire his side with a 77th minute goal before Djibril Cisse scored to complete a 5-1 aggregate second round qualifying win.Gerrard’s strike was his seventh goal in four qualifying games. “I keep saying he is a key player for us and that is very true,” Benitez told a press conference.“He scored and we hope to see him score a lot more goals this season. Always a striker needs to score and that goal will give him confidence,” Benitez added.“We now have a lot of players in attacking positions and they must all work hard to keep their place.” Gerrard had only been on the pitch for three minutes before he broke the deadlock with Liverpool’s opening goal in the 77th minute.Striker Djibril Cisse added a second with five minutes left by volleying home Luis Garcia’s cross from close range. Until Gerrard’s arrival as a substitute with barely a quarter of an hour to go, Liverpool had laboured to penetrate the Lithuanian champions’ defence in a disappointing performance by a side showing eight changes from the first leg.Gerrard had a free kick blocked with his first touch, set up Cisse for a chance that goalkeeper Sarunas Kilijonas saved, and then scored. His speculative shot from the Left flank flew under the body of an embarrassed Kilijonas for Gerrard’s seventh goal in four qualifying games.Half time substitute Cisse injected some excitement into the game with a searing shot across the face of goal following a neat touch from fellow striker Peter Crouch. Crouch later left the field with a thigh injury.Manager Rafael Benitez’s original pairing of Crouch and Morientes had failed to impress. Despite dominating the game, Liverpool suffered a second scare when Manchkhava wasted a good chance in the 52nd minute by blazing over the bar from Sami Hyypia’s miscued clearance.Liverpool go into a third qualifying round match against either SK Tirana of Albania or Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia, who play their second leg on Wednesday.
