Gerrard Leads Destruction Of Dutch on Champion Night for Liverpool

Three-goal leads are no guarantee of success, as Liverpool proved in the Champions League final of 2005. But their defeat of PSV Eindhoven was so emphatic, and the opposition so mediocre, that even Ronald Koeman will struggle to muster a cunning plan to deny Rafa Benitez's team a place in the semi-finals a week tonight.

On a night of landmarks, the victory was Liverpool's biggest on their travels in the Champions League proper, and it should concern Chelsea or Valencia, who await the winners of this tie, that they have lost just twice in their last 16 European trips.

Steven Gerrard overhauled the total of 14 goals scored by Ian Rush when the competition was still the European Cup, while Jamie Carragher almost joined the spree as he broke Phil Neal's club record of 57 appearances in the tournament.

The advantage secured by Gerrard's first-half header was doubled by John Arne Riise shortly after half-time, and it fell to Peter Crouch to put the seal on a hugely assured collective performance with a header late on. PSV, conquerors of Arsenal, were reduced to an exercise in damage-limitation.

There was a down side to Liverpool's triumph, however. Fabio Aurelio, their Brazilian left-back, damaged an Achilles tendon in the closing stages, collapsing to the turf as he played the ball with no PSV player nearby. The Liverpool manager fears that Aurelio will take no further part in the season.

Dirk Kuyt will be suspended for the return match, but even that apparent blot on Liverpool's landscape compounded the feeling of satisfaction as they returned to Merseyside. By encroaching at a free-kick in the closing minutes, the Netherlands striker provoked a booking to ensure that he sits out the formality of the second leg rather than risk being banned for one of the semi-final fixtures.

PSV were already crippled by injury and saw Jefferson Farfan extend the list with a hamstring problem that means he will also be absent at Anfield. Koeman, the scourge of English clubs with Benfica and PSV over the past two seasons, conceded that the result left no scope for the Dutch champions to advance. "From the second goal onwards," he said, "it was clear that Liverpool were just too good for us."

Benitez, returning to his pre-match warnings against complacency, refused to accept, at least publicly, that progress was inevitable.

"We must approach the match seriously and see what happens," he said. Yet such a display merited praise and he supplied it succinctly, saying: "To score three and keep a clean sheet is almost perfect."

Gerrard insisted the players were "not worried" about who they took on for a place in the final in Athens. "We just need to be professional, finish the job and worry about the next 90 minutes," said the Liverpool captain. For his part, Crouch believed Liverpool were peaking at the right time, possibly because of Benitez's policy of rotating players. He added: "To win 3-0 away anywhere in Europe is fantastic."

PSV were initially well-organised, but it was soon evident that they were missing the aerial power of the injured Alex, the Brazilian defender leased from Chelsea. Gerrard's 23rd-minute corner picked out Carragher unmarked six yards from goal, but his hopes of a rare goal were dashed when Gomes swooped to his left to save.

PSV retaliated when a deep cross by Jan Kromkamp, the former Liverpool right-back, reached Mika Vayrynen. His goalbound volley struck Carragher and went for a corner, from which the veteran Phillip Cocu headed narrowly wide.

The sparring came to an end when Liverpool landed the first blow in the 27th minute. A neat interchange along their right flank between Javier Mascherano and Steve Finnan led to the defender crossing for Gerrard to climb above Kuyt and head in from 12 yards.

The England vice-captain had equalled Liverpool's individual scoring record of 14 goals in the 2-0 home win over PSV earlier in the competition. The teams had drawn 0-0 here - a good result for visitors in the group stage yet not necessarily one they would have wished to take back to Anfield given the threat of an away goal.

Spring may no longer have been in the air, the sunshine that had greeted Liverpool's arrival on Monday having been replaced by a cold snap, but the spring in their step brought a second goal three minutes after half-time.

Sloppy defending had already provided Xabi Alonso with two half-chances. Timmy Simons, under no pressure, then hooked his clearance straight to Riise, who took a touch to control the ball and powered forward before volleying it with the outside of his left beyond Gomes from 25 yards.

Cocu tried gamely to hold PSV together, but Liverpool's authority was absolute, with Carragher strolling through his milestone match and Jose Reina a virtual spectator. Their confidence was epitomised by Alonso's attempt to add to his portfolio of long-range goals, only for his 45-yard chipped shot to drift wide.

The third goal arrived shortly after the hour mark. The largely unsung Finnan was again the supplier, his centre from the right being met by a towering header from Crouch. In this city built on its electronic industry, the scoreboard flashed up "1-2", and then reverted to "0-2". For Koeman and PSV, that was so much wishful thinking.

Indeed, the PSV manager refused to indulge in any hope of a reversal of fortunes at Anfield. "It is impossible now to go to Anfield and make out a case for reaching the next round," he said. "If I tried to find a reason to believe that, I would be from another planet.

"We played well until they scored their first. Then we started to give Steve Finnan too much freedom and we started to make mistakes.

"From then on it was clear that Liverpool were too strong for us. It is not realistic to think that we can win the tie now."

PSV Eindhoven (4-1-2-3): Gomes; Kromkamp (Feher, 68), Da Costa, Simons, Salcido; Cocu; Mendez (Kluivert, 51), Culina; Diego Tardelli, Vayrynen, Farfan (Sun Xiang, 45). Substitutes not used: Moens (gk), Addo, Marcellis.

Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio (Gonzalez, 75); Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Riise (Zenden, 65); Kuyt, Crouch (Pennant, 85). Substitutes not used: Dudek (gk), Arbeloa, Hyypia, Bellamy.

Referee: B Layec (France).