Source: Eurosport
Benayoun hat-trick sinks Clarets
Yossi Benayoun grabbed a hat-trick as Liverpool produced a thoroughly convincing performance at Anfield hammering Barclays Premier League new boys Burnley 4-0.[LNB] Benayoun scored his first goal after 27 minutes from the edge of the area, and then saw his shot blocked for Dirk Kuyt to score the second before the break.[LNB] Steven Gerrard set up Benayoun to tap home the third before substitute Andriy Voronin played him in for his third and Liverpool's fourth near the end.[LNB] Burnley started brightly with Martin Paterson firing wide from the edge of the box, while Kuyt produced a low shot at the other end that produced the first of many saves by Brian Jensen. [LNB] Liverpool's best early chance came when Emiliano Insua's chip was headed a foot wide by Benayoun, but the lively Israel captain broke the deadlock with a gem of a goal after 27 minutes. He surged from midfield, turned away from Graham Alexander and moved into the box to fire across Jensen and into the bottom corner. [LNB] Benayoun almost added another a minute later when he met Albert Riera's cross with a low header that Jensen blocked, the Burnley goalkeeper also keeping out Kuyt's follow-up. [LNB] Liverpool went further ahead when Fernando Torres and Insua combined to set up Benayoun for a 20-yard shot that Jensen blocked, but only as far as Kuyt who clipped home from five yards. [LNB] The increasingly busy Jensen had to produce the save of the half to keep out a Gerrard 20-yard drive before the break. [LNB] After 61 minutes Torres' pass played in a fiercely determined Gerrard, who battered his way past two men in the box to find Benayoun on the far post for a tap-in. [LNB] There was still time for Benayoun to secure his hat-trick after 81 minutes. Voronin's pass sent him clear in the box - played onside by Stephen Jordan - and he side-footed the ball past an exposed Jensen.
