Liverpool book their quarter-final place thanks to the striker's brace but another Spaniard, Albert Riera, is forced to walk the plank for insubordination

There were two Alberts missing at Anfield so it was a good thing Fernando Torres was available to bring Liverpool's allegedly sinking ship into dock. The striker took a while to hit his stride in this game, at times in the first half he barely looked himself, though it was a typical Torres goal that put Liverpool into tomorrow's draw and, if the club is serious about this competition, he may still be able to get his hands on some silverware yet.

Albert Riera has walked the plank he built for himself with his remarks about a sinking ship and an uncommunicative manager but there was no sign of Alberto Aquilani either after his encouraging performance against Portsmouth on Monday. The rarely seen Italian has picked up a virus at a highly inconvenient moment, though there is every chance Rafa Benítez would have brought back Lucas for this match anyway.

Riera has been temporarily suspended and told to stay away for the rest of the week and, while the Kop may have some private sympathy with his comments, the Liverpool support made a point of chanting Benítez's name at the start of the match.

With Dirk Kuyt also restored to the team, it was pretty much Liverpool as they have appeared for most of this year, a strong line-up of good players who somehow seem to have forgotten how to play together. It is becoming hard to work out whether the pressure Benítez is working under is transmitting itself to his players, or whether it is the team's lack of cohesion that is making life so difficult for the manager.

Liverpool may not be quite the force they once were – they would hardly be in this competition otherwise – and they were not about to go out of Europe without a fight. Any vessel that can boast Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in tandem has a good chance of at least staying afloat, though like the team as a whole both those players now appear to be trying too hard and something that was instinctive in their partnership has been lost.

This time last season the pair were combining so well it was being suggested that Liverpool could have won the title had they appeared together more often. Then again this time last season Liverpool were still in touching distance of a title.

While it was Lucas who won the early penalty that allowed Gerrard to wipe out Lille's first-leg advantage, the determination of Torres was soon apparent. One slaloming run from the right corner flag left two defenders trailing in his wake before a shot was deflected into the side netting.

Torres always seemed to have the beating of Adil Rami, the defender who conceded the penalty, yet was given too few opportunities to try, and mostly in wide positions. He went past Rami twice on the left in winning the corner from which Daniel Agger saw a header stopped on the line after half an hour, then could only watch in admiration like everyone else as Eden Hazard produced the run of the evening but forgot to add the finish, allowing José Reina to prevent what could have been a crucial equaliser and away goal.

Lille put together quite an impressive short spell after that, yet still Liverpool managed to pass up a couple of decent opportunities to seize the initiative before the interval and Torres was responsible for both. First he headed wide from Kuyt's cross when he would normally have been expected to get his effort at least on target, then he uncharacteristically strayed offside in anticipation of a pass from Gerrard after the Liverpool captain had made an interception in a promising position.

The longer the aggregate score remained level the more hesitant and nervous Liverpool were likely to become. If Lille had realised that, they might have concentrated more on defending instead of being caught out with too many men too high up the pitch to leave Torres a perfect opportunity to strike.

All that happened was that Ryan Babel pumped a high ball forward. Rami misjudged the bounce, Torres did not and, once he was behind the defender, the finish was a formality. That is what Torres is good at and, while this was by no means a vintage Liverpool performance or a particularly memorable European night, while he is around it would be premature to write off Anfield's season.

Had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showed anything like the same composure in front of goal in the 74th minute, Liverpool's ship really might have been sunk. Instead Torres's second of the night ended all doubts.

On the scale of great European nights at Anfield it might not even scrap into the top 40 but, as feats of escapology go, this was still an occasion of rich satisfaction for a club that finally seems to have found some affection for the Europa League. This is not a competition the club crave with any historic desire but it could have therapeutic qualities when it comes to the possibility of salvaging something from a difficult, occasionally excruciating season.

The pressure on Rafael Benítez may have risen dangerously close to intolerable had Liverpool been eliminated from this tournament before the quarter-finals. Instead they set about the business of overhauling Lille with equal measures of panache and determination, Steven Gerrard putting them ahead with a ninth-minute penalty before Fernando Torres's two second-half goals demonstrated that he is back to his lethal best after a season heavily disrupted by injury. The two totem in Liverpool's side were outstanding on a night when the only concern was of the effect it might have on the players' legs.

With hostilities to be renewed with Manchester United on Sunday, Liverpool's supporters could be forgiven if they find themselves fretting about the sapping effects of a second match in four nights. There was a heart-stopping moment for the Kop in the first half when Gerrard went down in an innocuous aerial challenge and took an age getting to his feet, and the home side put so much into this game there must be obvious concerns about facing a United side that has had the whole week to prepare.

Thursday night football, with that peculiar Europa League pre-match anthem, is not what anyone at Anfield aspired to at the start of the season, but it could not be said that they looked short of motivation. Gerrard was a commanding, ubiquitous figure and there were flashes of brilliance from Torres on the night he scored his first goal for Liverpool in European competition since the quarter-final against Chelsea last April.

Benítez's men began the night as though it was not just the manager who was affronted by Albert Riera's description of the club being a "sinking ship". Lille, a fast, counter-attacking side who have climbed to fourth in le Championnat, arrived at Anfield with a 1-0 first-leg win, but the raw energy of the home side seemed to take them by surprise and in those early exchanges the visitors looked like joining the long list of clubs who have discovered Anfield is a place that can inflict stagefright on usually the most intrepid travellers.

The early breakthrough did much to sooth the crowd's nerves and it was a nightmarish moment for Adil Rami, the Lille centre-half obligingly sticking out a leg as Lucas ran on to the ball inside the penalty area. It was a gift that Lucas saw coming, the Brazilian taking full advantage as he sprawled to the floor, and Gerrard was calmness personified from the penalty spot.

The first half was a story of almost incessant pressure on Mickaël Landreau's goal. One run from Torres took out two defenders, the first with a nutmeg, the second with a beautiful change of direction and speed, only to shoot into the side netting. Other chances came and went, most notably two headers from Daniel Agger at corners, and there were long spells when Liverpool's quick, precise passing prized open large and inviting gaps.

The flow of the game was so one-sided there was a sense of near shock when Lille finally produced something noteworthy. Eden Hazard was the most impressive player in the first leg and the way he burst through Liverpool's defence just after the half-hour mark suggested once again that the 19-year-old Belgian is a player we might get to hear a lot more about in the future. Liverpool's defence were beaten and there was little wrong with Hazard's attempt to flick the ball over the oncoming Pepe Reina except for the fact he was unlucky enough to see the ball flick off the goalkeeper's head.

The night had begun with the repercussions continuing from Riera's verbal attack on Benítez, the winger being suspended from the club until Monday when he will be informed he has been fined two weeks' wages. Yet Liverpool supporters will be far more concerned about keeping the club's most cherished Spaniard happy and five minutes into the second half Torres reminded us why, when he if fit and sharp, a serious case could be made for him to be recognised as the most devastating finisher in Europe.

Ryan Babel's through-ball was, in reality, little more than a long clearance but the hapless Rami misjudged the bounce and from that moment there was an air of inevitability about where the ball would end up. Torres held off the centre-half Aurélien Chedjou and dinked the ball over Ludovic Butelle for his fourth goal in his five full games since coming back from a groin injury. There were some nervous moments to follow as Lille searched for an away goal to turn the tie upside down but all the concerns were lifted two minutes from the end when Gerrard's shot was parried by Butelle and Torres turned in the rebound.

Fulham reached the Europa League quarter-finals in circumstances that surely make this the greatest result in the club's history. It took more than the questionable red card for Fabio Cannavaro to bring a 4-1 victory and a 5-4 triumph over Juventus on aggregate. In stoppage time Jonathan Zebina was dismissed for kicking Damien Duff in the back of the leg. By then, Fulham had settled the match gloriously, with the substitute Clint Dempsey delightfully floating the ball high into the far corner eight minutes from the end.

It would have been remarkable for Fulham to eliminate Juventus under any circumstances, but it was almost uncanny that Roy Hodgson's side should do so after going 4-1 behind on aggregate when the ball broke to David Trezeguet in the second minute. It certainly helped that the centre-back Cannavaro was sent off in the middle of the first half. Fulham, however, did far more than benefit from circumstances.

Bobby Zamora has prescience to go with penalty-area potency. He had the seeming effrontery before this match to suggest that the 36-year-old Cannavaro, who captained Italy when they won the 2006 World Cup, is now a weak link. The Fulham centre-forward vindicated his claim by overwhelming his marker to equalise before having a part in the move that brought the red card for the defender

It says everything for Hodgson's status that a 3-1 loss in Turin in the first leg felt like a disappointment. Fulham could scarcely hope for a better manager. After all, he has known the heights of the game and in the Uefa Cup, this tournament's predecessor, it took a penalty shoot-out with Schalke 04 to deny his Internazionale side in the 1997 final. He has certainly galvanised his current players.

Cannavaro was outmuscled in the 12th minute as Paul Konchesky crossed and, with the defender on the ground, Zamora controlled the ball on his chest before lashing a drive past Antonio Chimenti. The 39-year-old goalkeeper, taking part because of injuries to Gigi Buffon and Alex Manninger, cannot have relished this return to the limelight.

His side was not allowed to regain composure. After 27 minutes Zamora fed Gera and the midfielder went down as Cannavaro challenged. The left-back Fabio Grosso might have been able to cover, but the referee, Bjorn Kuipers, sent off the veteran. Fulham then displayed their professionalism by making the most of the advantage.

The high-tempo style caused distress to Juventus and a watching Fabio Capello was surely impressed by Zamora. A flick from the forward found Simon Davies and his cut-back was converted by Zoltan Gera six minutes from half-time. Fulham kept the opposition under stress and they levelled the aggregate score in the 49th minute, although it seemed harsh that a penalty should be awarded when, at close range, Duff's cross came off the arm of Diego. Gera sent Chimenti the wrong way from the spot.

By then, Fulham had grown irresistible on an extraordinary night.

The Football Association and anti-doping authorities look further apart than ever ove testing procedures before the World Cup

Fabio Capello's players look ever more likely to escape being monitored by anti-doping enforcers before the World Cup. Discussions between the Football Association and the national anti-doping authorities over an elite-player testing pool have been under way for more than a year and there was initial success: both sides reported last July that they had reached agreement on a broad outline of what such a body would look like.

But now the two sides look further apart than ever over how many and which England players will be tested: the only thing they shared yesterday was an unwillingness to discuss the proposals.

There is a deadlock in negotiations given the new UK Anti-Doping agency, which was set up in December, now answers directly to the World Anti-Doping Agency, while the FA is mindful how England players reacted with threatened industrial action over Rio Ferdinand's eight-month ban for a missed test.

There is no such difficulty at the Rugby Football League, which has had a similar system in place since last May. It has 17 international squad players in the National Registered Testing Pool, who must give notice of their whereabouts for an hour a day, seven days a week. It was from that pool that Terry Newton became the first athlete to test positive for human growth hormone use.

Eccles faces FA fight

The Football Association yesterday appointed Julian Eccles as its director of communications. Eccles, who performed the same role at Sky and Ofcom, will be tasked with avoiding the sort of public relations disaster that was the FA's response to the government's seven questions on football governance. But at the moment it looks as if Eccles will be fighting with one hand tied behind his back.

Although the FA's own strategy document Vision 2008-12 recognised a need to monitor structural changes arising out of the Burns review (which proposed changes to the way the FA governs itself), very little has been done. The document called for "a proper review during the term of the strategy of all the aspects of the changes whether at council, board or Football Regulatory Authority level".

Now, halfway through the four-year term, the chief executive, Ian Watmore, has reported back to the council on the early findings of his FRA review. He told a council meeting on Wednesday he wants to cut back on transfer market red tape and will come up with proposals in May. That is the easy bit. Meanwhile no one grasps the nettle still over how to tackle the 19th-century council and board structures that Lord Burns tried in vain to reform.

Ivory Coast guards

The Ivory Coast professional club ASEC Mimosas, whose academy produced the Premier League stars Emmanuel Eboué, Salomon Kalou and Kolo Touré, have sought assistance from a European research institute to prevent their players leaving Abidjan too early. The Professional Football Players' Observatory has linked up with the Ivorian club to provide advice. A statement said: "The idea is to create conditions for players to leave not only to clubs who are best placed to develop them but also at the right time, once they have acquired top-level experience in the ASEC first team." Which is all a far cry from when they were selling first‑dibs rights to a network of European clubs that included Charlton Athletic.

Couch potato land

A House of Commons research paper last month examined what effect hosting the 2012 Olympics will have on sports participation and remarked: "Most studies have concluded that no host country has yet experienced a lasting increase in sports participation." Now even some of Sport England's own figures are starting to demonstrate it. On Wednesday Sport England released the results of its Active People Survey, which reflects the value it gives for its £258m annual budget. The figures, from January 2009 to January 2010, show that 24.07m people were not taking part in any moderate-intensity sport at all.

The figures for the 12 months from October 2005, starting three months after the Olympics were awarded to London, showed only 23.927m were that inactive – the increase equivalent to everyone in Telford taking to the settee. Sport England says that is because the population has grown. At least in two years the couch potatoes will have some nice stadiums to watch on telly.

• Avram Grant says points deduction punishes wrong people
• Pompey 'do not have duty to other teams' in the league

Avram Grant reflected on a "sad day for football" after the confirmation of Portsmouth's nine-point deduction for going into administration and he hinted that the bottom club might be tempted to field a weakened team in their remaining Premier League matches.

The deduction virtually guarantees Portsmouth will play in the Championship next season as they now have only 10 points, 17 from safety with nine games left and 14 behind second-from-bottom Hull City, whom they face at Fratton Park tomorrow.

By then Grant will have gauged the mood in the squad, who still have an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley to aim for but may lack motivation for what are, to all intents, meaningless league matches.

"Even though the writing was on the wall a long time ago and I tried to tell everybody we would do our best, for me this is a sad day," Grant said. "A football decision has not been decided on the pitch. It has been decided in an office somewhere and that is wrong.

"What they have done with this decision is not punish the people who did something wrong, so now the people who come along next time will think, 'OK, I can go away to my house and they will punish the fans and everybody who came after.' This is not good."

Grant intends to give the Portsmouth players the chance to air their views after today's training session. "I will talk with the players about it tomorrow and we will make a decision and go from there," said the Portsmouth manager last night.

"It is not easy because we still believed that even with all the difficulties we could fight against relegation, because Portsmouth did that a few years ago. Now we need to think about everything."

Grant added: "Football needs to be decided on the pitch. You need to give all teams an equal chance, which we did not have in this case. "The decision was taken a long time ago that Portsmouth would not stay in the Premier League, for one reason or another.We do not have a duty to the other teams – the Premier League has a duty to the other teams. We tried everything in the last month to keep what I think the spirit of football is about.

"If we had given up before, people would not have thought that was good for the Premier League. We need to hear what the players think about what we need to do from now on."

The former Chelsea manager said: "For me it is a new situation. It is the first time in the history of the Premier League this has happened. Nobody knows how to deal with it. I said we would fight against relegation as long as we thought we had a chance – and we did. Now I do not know.

"When it has not happened, you always have hope. Now it is a different situation and we have to deal with it differently.""Now, we create the experience for the next one – because we will not be the last."

Andronikou claims former chief executive Peter Storrie, who is still acting as an advisor for the club, must bear part of the blame for the crisis that has engulfed the club.

Grant, though, maintained: "I must say, that in the time that I worked with Peter, he was 100% professional and tried to do everything to save the club.

"What happened in the past, I do not know."

Click to enlarge, and debate the strip below the line. Keith Hackett's official answers appear in Sunday's Observer and here from Monday.

Competition: win an official club shirt of your choice

• Left-back 'very wound-up' when he announced England boycott
• James Milner is very important for England, says coach

Fabio Capello remains hopeful that Wayne Bridge will reverse his decision to pull out of the England squad. The Manchester City left-back Bridge announced that he did not want to be considered for selection following revelations of an affair between John Terry and Vanessa Perroncel, Bridge's former girlfriend and the mother of his child. But Capello has revealed his belief that the announcement was motivated by anger and his hope that time could yet prove a healer in the build-up to this summer's World Cup.

Bridge pulled out of the England squad on 25 January, claiming that his inclusion would be "untenable and potentially divisive". Capello immediately released a statement through the Football Association saying that the door would always be open. Now, he has expressed his hope that having overcome the initial shock, Bridge will reconsider his position before June.

"Wayne Bridge was very wound up, very angry, when he made the decision," Capello told the Spanish channel Gol Televisión. "There is still time for him to change his mind." Bridge is currently out of action for a month following a hernia operation.

Asked if it was hard to take the armband off Terry, Capello replied: "No. Players and fans want the captain's armband to be worn by an exemplary player. They want the captain to be an example for young children. What happened with Terry wasn't good. I saw him at Wembley and we spoke about [the affair] and we spoke about football. It was fine. He understood [my decision]. I explained to him that he could not continue as captain but I also told him that he would continue to be a leader on the pitch and an important player because a coach needs a player like that."

The England coach confirmed that he has asked David Beckham to join the squad in South Africa, even though the Milan midfielder will miss out on the tournament because of a torn achilles tendon. Capello said of Beckham: "He is an important player for us; he never caused any problems whatsoever. Whether he played 10, 15 or 20 minutes, he always had the same attitude and he was always ready. He was an important man in the dressing room. In fact, we have asked David to be with us in South Africa; if he wants to, he can come with us. It depends on him and it depends on how he feels with his achilles. But we know he can't play now for six months. I hope he comes back fit afterwards."

In Beckham's absence Capello's options on the right side of midfield have shortened but he has been impressed with the response of two players. "Last year Theo Walcott who was the player that most surprised me – he was very important during qualifying," the England coach said. "This year [James] Milner from Aston Villa has played a number of games with us and he is very important.

"But the most important player is Wayne Rooney. He scores lots of goals; he finishes everything. Players need time. Rooney started at Everton at 16 and he has matured. Right now, his form is incredible and I hope he can maintain that level until South Africa. There are three players who are on a different level at the moment. One is [Lionel] Messi, one is Cristiano Ronaldo and one is Rooney. They are a step above everyone else in the world."

Hull would prefer a £16m Premier League problem to the £21m headache awaiting in the Championship

Iain Dowie is due for a surprise first appearance in the Fratton Park technical area tomorrow, as Hull City travel to Portsmouth for a crunch meeting with the club whose multiple woes shape the Premier League's most cautionary tale. Bust, in turmoil and relegated is a place Hull's chairman, Adam Pearson, is determined his club must never be but Pompey, after their nine-point deduction for going into administration, look irretrievably down.

The idea of Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, mounting a challenge to the nine-point penalty appears wilfully blind to the reasons it has been imposed. Portsmouth, like all clubs who declare insolvency and enter administration, will emerge, under whichever new owner, having almost certainly not paid their debts in full. HM Revenue and Customs, and all the high-and-dry creditors in the usual dispiriting list, will be asked to take a cut of what they are owed, while "football creditors" – the amply rewarded players – will, according to the league's rules, be paid in full.

Clubs themselves, first in the Football League then in the Premier League, voted overwhelmingly for points penalties to be imposed on clubs who do this. The principle is that, if clubs do not meet their responsibilities, they cannot compete without sanction against others dutifully paying their way.

Pearson, the commercial director who managed to emerge with an unblemished record even as Leeds United "lived the dream" around him in 2002-03, is shaped by that experience into trying to manage football dreams with care. He bought Hull out of their own wretched administration in 2001, oversaw the club's rebuilding and move to the KC Stadium, then in 2007 sold out to the current owner, the Essex property investor Russell Bartlett. Pearson bought into Derby County, then returned to Hull last October at Bartlett's invitation, after the former chairman, Paul Duffen, resigned. Duffen claimed he was owed money on his contract and Hull then sued Duffen, claiming he had been suspended before his resignation and accusing him of accepting payments from agents, unnamed, for directing club business their way. Duffen denied it all, then the case was settled last month on terms neither side has revealed.

What did become certain, and was reinforced this week, is that Hull have financial challenges, having made a £13m loss under Bartlett and Duffen to gain promotion from the Championship. The club's accounts for the 14 months to 31 July 2008, filed several months late, carried the warning that Hull had to repay all their £22m bank loans by July this year and so would need £23m extra if they found themselves relegated, £16m even if they stayed in the Premier League. The accountants, Deloitte, decided that position was shaky enough to "represent a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt over the company's ability to continue as a going concern".

Pearson, on taking over, argued that the £36m wage bill had to be wrestled down, and £5.3m had been committed in agents' fees. Duffen had argued the wage bill was not excessive and predicted the club would show a profit for 2008-09.

Hull's accounts for the year to 31 July 2009 were published this week and did indeed show a profit, of £1m. The wage bill, £34m then, looks manageable as the club recorded a turnover in its first Premier League season of £51m. Yet Deloitte issued almost exactly the same warning again. Hull, the accountants said, will need to find an additional £21m from selling players or raising finance if relegated, and £16m even if Dowie can harangue his inherited team into staying up. Again the accountants judged this represented "a material uncertainty" about the club's ability to stay in business.

The key to the club's dilemma is in its bank debt. The amount owed is down now to £4.6m, which Pearson justifiably described as the lowest in the league – yet it has to be repaid in full by July. The money is owed to Investec, which has been advancing Hull loans in the Premier League against TV and other money the club were due to receive from the League. That £4.6m is but a fingernail of the monster which has devoured Portsmouth, yet Hull were also stated to owe £15m to "trade creditors" and £4.5m in tax.

The accounts stated that they are trying to borrow again: "The club is currently in advanced discussions with finance providers for the acceleration of known Premier League distributions [money due from the Premier League] for amounts of £7m."

Pearson, who ran Hull prudently for six years before coming back to deal with all this, said this week he is confident the club will manage. He will, though, be hoping fervently that Dowie can steer Hull into the £16m Premier League problem, rather than the £21m headache lurking in the Championship.

• Stoke City defender says he has left messages to no avail
• Admits 'lot of emotion going on' but boosted by support

Ryan Shawcross has revealed that Aaron Ramsey has yet to respond to any of his attempts to make contact in the wake of the challenge that left the Arsenal midfielder with a fractured tibia and fibula last month. The Stoke City defender, who hopes to overcome a minor ankle injury to make his first appearance since the Arsenal fixture when Tottenham visit the Britannia Stadium tomorrow, has sent text messages and also tried to speak to Ramsey, but without success.

Shawcross said he was not disappointed that Ramsey has shunned his attempts to get in touch and admitted "there is a lot of emotion going on" after a tackle that has left the Wales international facing nine months on the sidelines. Ramsey has started a lengthy rehabilitation programme and Shawcross said focusing all his energies on returning to fitness is a good enough reason to ignore the calls and messages.

"I have made efforts, I've left him messages and a text, and nothing has been returned but that's up to Aaron," Shawcross said, speaking publicly for the first time about the incident. "Will I see him? I might do in the future but it's totally up to Aaron. I haven't spoken to him. It's up to him whether he gets back to me, there is a lot of emotion going on and he's probably trying to concentrate on having his rehab done and that's fair enough."

Arsène Wenger was heavily critical of Shawcross, accusing the central defender of a horrendous and unacceptable challenge. Shawcross, however, maintains there was no bad intent and said for that reason he has not been tormenting himself about the moment he collided with Ramsey's right leg and left the teenager writhing in agony.

"I think if you ask any professional playing football, he doesn't go out to injure another player," Shawcross said. "The incident, I just got there a tiny bit late and missed the ball and this is when injuries happen. It probably happens five or six times in a game and some people never get injured. If I knew I had gone out to hurt somebody then obviously I would have sleepless nights, but I know I went out not trying to harm anyone."

Shawcross said the support he has received from within football has helped him deal with the fall-out from the incident, which happened less than an hour before he was called up to the England squad for the first time. Steven Gerrard sent a text message saying "he knew it was an honest tackle and that I was welcome in the squad" and Sir Alex Ferguson made a personal call while Manchester United were celebrating their Carling Cup triumph in the background.

Shawcross revealed that he has watched the challenge again, although not through choice. "When we sit down for England meals we always have the news on in the background and obviously for the next three or four days every single headline was about me making a tackle. So I've seen it in slow-mo, fast, everything. It was just an unfortunate accident. I just wish Aaron all the best and hopefully he gets back to being the fantastic player he was."

It would not be surprising if Shawcross felt a little uneasy about stepping back onto the pitch again against Spurs but he insisted there are no psychological battles to overcome. "I'm quite a strong character. In my training I've been back to normal. I've been making hard tackles and that's the way I play. If I changed that I wouldn't be the same footballer. That's the way I'm going to carry on playing and hopefully I can do well again."