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Liverpool striker Fernando Torres marked his first start since January 13 by scoring the winner in an ill-tempered 2-1 victory over Blackburn at Anfield.

The Spain international hit his 13th goal in 17 Premier League appearances just before half-time, having missed five weeks at the start of the year after a knee operation.

Liverpool had gone ahead midway through the half through Steven Gerrard only for Jamie Carragher's handball to allow Keith Andrews to equalise from the penalty spot five minutes before the interval.

With fellow top-four challengers Tottenham and Manchester City both winning this weekend, it was imperative Rafael Benitez's side maintained the pressure - and they managed to grind out a win against combative opponents.

Before the match Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce, who has never had a great relationship with Benitez, had said the Spaniard's side played like his former club Bolton. However, on this evidence - five Rovers players were booked and they could easily have had Steven Nzonzi and Pascal Chimbonda sent off - it was Rovers who lived up to Allardyce's reputation.

But it was the goalscoring return of Torres that will have put a smile on Benitez's face as Liverpool scored for the 26th successive league game at Anfield and the 33rd in all competitions.

Surprisingly, the Spain international played no part in the opening goal, which came from a swift and incisive move started by Lucas on the halfway line. The Brazilian picked out Gerrard who, after exchanging passes with Dirk Kuyt and offloading to Yossi Benayoun, continued his run into the penalty area to collect the return ball, go past Samba and clip home a left-footed shot.

That was after Chris Samba, Martin Olsson and Morten Gamst Pedersen had all had half-chances to put Blackburn ahead. Liverpool, though, were indebted to Jose Reina in the 17th minute as the goalkeeper made a good double save from Pedersen, particularly the first shot which deflected off Jamie Carragher.

On the half-hour Kuyt should have made it 2-0 from Gerrard's corner but appeared to be surprised by the pace of the ball and headed wide from three yards. In the 38th minute Liverpool were forced into a change when Fabio Aurelio limped off with what looked like a thigh injury and was replaced by Emiliano Insua.

Two minutes later Rovers were gifted an equaliser when Benayoun's weak clearance was played straight back into the penalty area and, despite three Liverpool players surrounding Kalinic, Carragher catastrophically went to ground where the ball hit his hand. Andrews fired home from the spot to put his side firmly back in the game.

However, Liverpool went ahead again a minute before the break when Samba could only poke the ball off Torres into the path of Rodriguez, who crossed into the six-yard area for the Spaniard to smash home.

Early in the second half Olsson was booked for handball in the centre-circle before Nzonzi was lucky to escape with a caution, having flattened Lucas with an aggressive push to his face.

Pascal Chimbonda's first act, having come on for Olsson, was to bring down Rodriguez as he threatened to cut into the penalty area. Daniel Agger headed Gerrard's whipped-in free-kick over at the far post.

Chimbonda's second contribution was to carelessly give the ball away to Kuyt, which eventually resulted in Robinson having to tip Rodriguez's shot around the post.

Kalinic was next to go into referee Alan Wiley's book for hacking down Mascherano from behind and, after several close calls, former Liverpool forward El-Hadji Diouf was eventually booked for bringing down Mascherano.

Referee Alan Wiley and one of his linesmen somehow missed Chimbonda, who had already been booked, thrusting his boot into Rodriguez's chest as the Rovers defender rolled on the floor.

Ryan Babel replaced Benayoun for the final 10 minutes but with only a slender lead the pressure began to mount on the hosts. Torres departed to a standing ovation with his work done but in the knowledge he will have to continue to produce on a regular basis if his club are to secure Champions League football next season.

Liverpool avoided a potential Europa League embarrassment in Romania as they came from behind against Unirea Urziceni to book their place in the last 16.

Shaky defending from set-pieces in the first half saw them fall behind to Bruno Fernandes' header in the 19th minute and for a while they looked rattled.

However, goals from Javier Mascherano from long range and Ryan Babel from close in turned things around before the interval and Steven Gerrard's 33rd European goal wrapped things up after the break.

It was the first time since the 6-1 win over Hull in September that Liverpool had scored more than twice in a game, a run of 29 matches.

A year ago today they beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the Bernabeu on the way to a 5-0 aggregate win before their eventual Champions League quarter-final defeat by Chelsea.

But their early struggles in the Steaua Stadium showed just how far the club's fortunes have plummeted in 12 months as Unirea created a number of chances, mainly from free-kicks and corners, which the visitors almost shambolically failed to deal with.

Backed by a vociferous crowd, the Romanian champions created their first opening in only the second minute.

Jamie Carragher's header from Iulian Apostol's free-kick only reached the edge of the penalty area and Sorin Frunza lashed a dipping volley onto the top of Jose Reina's net.

Less than 60 seconds later, Lucas Leiva picked out Gerrard with a through-ball but the Liverpool captain's fierce low drive was parried into the air by goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis.

Liverpool were retaining possession for long periods without really hurting their opponents but it was to cost them as, in the 19th minute, Unirea levelled the tie on aggregate.

Daniel Agger's last-ditch tackle on Marius Onofras gave the hosts a corner from the left and Razvan Paduretu's inviting delivery was perfect for centre-back Fernandes to power home a header virtually unchallenged.

George Galamaz's foul on Martin Skrtel resulted in the Unirea captain coming off worst and, despite trying to run off his injury, he was replaced by Ersin Mehmedovic in the 28th minute.

Two minutes later Liverpool seized control of the tie from the most unlikely of sources.

Yossi Benayoun and David Ngog combined to allow Carragher to cross and, although Babel mis-controlled Gerrard's far post header with only the goalkeeper to the beat, the ball broke to Mascherano outside the penalty area to lash a shot past Arlauskis.

But they almost handed the initiative back to Unirea in the 36th minute when Paduretu's inswinging corner caused chaos in the six-yard area, hitting Agger but bouncing inches wide.

The Romanian midfielder's low 25-yard shot then had Reina diving to his right to tip around the post.

However, Liverpool gave themselves the cushion they so desperately needed five minutes before half-time.

Gerrard swung in a free-kick from the right and Babel took one touch before swivelling to fire home from close range.

Early in the second half Gerrard fired wide of Arlauskis' right-hand post and also forced him into a low save on the same side, as Liverpool started to play with slightly more freedom.

If there was any doubt about Unirea staging an unlikely comeback it was snuffed out by Gerrard in the 57th minute.

Babel broke down the left, moving the ball to Lucas and he picked out Benayoun, whose mazy dribble into the area was only half-stopped to allow the Liverpool captain to run onto the loose ball and blast a low shot under Arlauskis.

That strike was his 33rd in Europe, taking him past Alan Shearer, who scored 30 for Newcastle and two for Blackburn.

That prompted the introduction of youngster Martin Kelly for Carragher at right-back and, almost immediately, Sotirios Kyrgiakos after Unirea substitute Antonio Semedo caught Skrtel in a challenge.

With thoughts turning to Blackburn on Sunday in the Barclays Premier League, manager Rafael Benitez replaced Benayoun with Fabio Aurelio for the final 15 minutes.

Emiliano Insua's late intervention poked the ball off the toe of Paduretu just as he was about to pull the trigger in the six-yard area but otherwise there were no other scares.

But their first-half defensive lapses will not have gone unnoticed by Rovers boss Sam Allardyce ahead of his side's visit to Anfield.

Much greater challenges lie ahead for Benitez and his Liverpool team.

The eagerly-awaited top-four showdown turned into a goalless bore draw between Manchester City and Liverpool at Eastlands.

Gripped by the fear of losing, the north-west rivals did not manage a shot on target during the first-half and only threw off their shackles in a half-hearted search for victory in the final 15 minutes.

But even the introductions of Craig Bellamy and Fernando Torres failed to lift the game from its overall torpor.

Pepe Reina's smart save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor represented the biggest thrill of a pitiful afternoon that convinced no-one of either club's worthiness to sit at Europe's top table, and proved how shrewd Sky and ESPN were not to bother screening it live.

When the teams were announced, it confirmed a tale of two substitutes. The sad thing was, when an opening period containing exactly zero shots on target ended, the respective benches were still the biggest talking points.

Torres was relatively straightforward.

A knee operation that was supposed to rule him out until March had eased sufficiently for Rafael Benitez to put him on the bench, if only for use in emergency.

Predictably, the issues surrounding Bellamy are less clear-cut.

It has now been established beyond question the Welshman's own dodgy knees can no longer stand up to the exhaustive nature of a Premier League season.

Also taken for granted is Bellamy's combustible nature.

According to Roberto Mancini, a midweek argument about the best way to treat the injury was nothing serious. Other reports tell a different story.

Bellamy's presence in Mancini's squad at least offered hope any souring of relations is repairable, although as a capacity crowd digested a truly awful opening period, the game itself was in desperate need of his involvement.

Given the scrap now taking place for that coveted fourth Champions League spot, a sense of trepidation could have been forgiven.

What was less easy to ignore was the woeful passing, the negativity and the limited vision. The sight of Steven Gerrard and Maxi Rodriguez running into each other on one Liverpool attack just about summed the whole thing up.

Gerrard was responsible for the visitors' best chance, sending over the corner that Martin Skrtel glanced wide at the far post after Shay Given had failed to come and collect.

At the other end, the only moment to enthuse about was a Pablo Zabaleta shot that would have gone wide had it not hit Emmanuel Adebayor. In such instances, anything can happen. This time, the trajectory of the ball barely altered.

Although it really could not have been worse, the first 15 minutes of the second-half was no better than what had gone before.

Benitez was already preparing to introduce Yossi Benayoun for his first appearance since breaking a rib in the same FA Cup defeat to Reading that marked the start of Torres' absence when Adebayor let rip from 20 yards.

Without question it posed the biggest threat to either goal, but Reina proved equal to it, plunging to his right to make an excellent one-handed save.

Benayoun's arrival followed shortly afterwards then, to a standing ovation, Bellamy was introduced.

One Gerrard shot and six minutes later, Torres returned to the fray.

Now, other than a bit of rustiness, there were no excuses for either side being so restricted in their approach.

Almost immediately there was a greater sense of purpose, as both sides began to recognise a victory rather than concentrate purely on the damage of defeat.

Skrtel managed to recover his ground just in time to rob Adebayor as the Togo man was about to shoot. From the corner, Adebayor headed Vincent Kompany's cross over.

Had referee Peter Walton seen an already booked Javier Mascherano drive his studs into Gareth Barry's ankle, Liverpool would have ended up playing the final few minutes with 10 men.

As it was, Mascherano remained on the field until the bitter end.

But the only lucky ones were those who missed it altogether.