Pietro Berrettini
“Liverpool striker Fernando Torres scored a brilliant hat-trick to blow away struggling Hull at Anfield. The Spain striker scored twice in the first half either side of Geovanni’s equaliser and added a third soon after the interval. Captain Steven Gerrard scored a fourth just before the hour and substitute Ryan Babel added two late goals as Liverpool made it four league wins – including 16 goals – in succession.” (ESPN)

Fernando Torres stars as Liverpool increase pressure on Hull City
“A sublime hat-trick from Fernando Torres showed why at the age of 25 he can already be considered one of the great Liverpool centre-forwards. The Spaniard snuffed out Hull’s game attempt at resistance almost single-handed and ensured that since their last visit to Anfield in December, the Yorkshire side have taken seven points from 28 games.” (Guardian)

Liverpool 6 Hull City 1: match report
“No matter how virulent the chants, how iconoclastic the protest or how furious the revolt, actions speaker louder than words. Liverpool’s fans, inspired by the sight of co-owner George Gillett entering Anfield for the first time in months, staged an ad hoc demonstration at his perceived penny-pinching, his alleged desire to make money from the club without spending anything on it.” (Telegraph)

Liverpool 6-1 Hull
“So much for struggling to beat the teams that just want a draw at Anfield. 13 goals put past Stoke, Burnley, and Hull – and Liverpool dropped points against Stoke and Hull last season. It didn’t look like it’d end 6-1 at halftime. A 12th minute goal by Torres appeared to initiate an avalanche, but defensive blunders crept back in to postpone the rout. Liverpool had started the brighter, and when Riera found #9 in the box, Torres deftly shifted onto his left past Sonko and slotted in the far corner. I think he might have found his form.” (oh you beauty)

“This is a story about an honest, fair-minded, and well-meaning football club, and how they were pushed to the limit by a group of thugs, cheats, and bullies. It’s an old story. It’s a story that happens all over the world—whenever a kid who’s good at computers is forced to eat leaves by a kid who isn’t good at computers; whenever a beloved professional wrestling champion climbs into the center of the ring for a spontaneous awards ceremony only to be taken down by a folding chair from behind. Today, it’s our story. And it’s the story of our quest for vengeance.” (Run of Play)

“It’s a cliche that ‘everyone forgets who comes second’. It’s rubbish of course, every schoolboy knows that Buzz Lightyear was the 2nd man on the moon. Here we salute the great sides that fell short in football’s greatest contest. Strangely, only three of our choices were actual finalists.” (midfielddynamo)

“UEFA is investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, mostly involving eastern European clubs. The number of matches being scrutinized for suspicious betting patterns has risen from 25 in the last year, Peter Limacher, head of disciplinary services for European soccer’s governing body, told The Associated Press on Friday.” (NYT)

“If a week is a long time in politics, a year can be an eternity for a football manager. Just ask Kevin Keegan, Tony Adams or Juande Ramos. Phil Brown, the so-called ‘Primark Jose Mourinho’, is another boss whose fortunes have tilted dramatically in the past 12 months. This time last season, Brown’s Hull City became only the second team to beat Arsenal at the Emirates. A wonder goal from Geovanni and a fair bit of luck in their own penalty box added up to give Brown ‘the best day of my life, without a shadow of a doubt’. He is now fighting for his job.” (WSC)