POMPEY'S EURO DREAM LIVES ON

Steven Gerrard, Jose Reina, Jamie Carragher and Peter Crouch were all given the day off and as a result Pompey were able to cling on to their European dream.

Pompey got on their way just before the half hour when Benjani nipped in to lob the ball over Jerzy Dudek before nodding it into an empty net.

Then Niko Kranjcar had only been on for 10 minutes when Lauren spotted him in space on 33 minutes. And with Liverpool looking for an  offside decision, the Croatian had time to pick his spot.

Sami Hyypia reduced the arrears when he headed home a corner on 58 minutes but the Reds soon settled back into their comfy stride.

Benitez last night defended his decision to rest so many players, saying:

"It is clear the priority is the Champions League."

And Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp played down his Euro ambitions. "We are still hanging in there but Tottenham have a game in hand and we have two hard games against Everton away and Arsenal at home," he said.

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LIVERPOOL        1