ON A night of goal-scoring stars, the shining light in driving Liverpool back into European contention was Javier Mascherano, an unsung hero who deserves his own hymn from the Kop for such tempo-setting displays as this.

Peter Crouch began and finished the 8-0 rout over Besiktas, Yossi Benayoun netted a hat-trick, Steven Gerrard added one while Ryan Babel scored two as Liverpool fans, at their ironic best, chanted “attack, attack, attack”.

Liverpool still has to beat Porto (home) and Marseille (away) to guarantee qualification from group A, though, with Mascherano in this majestic form, it will believe the great escape is on.

With Mascherano dominant in midfield, Liverpool had the stage to attack and was over the horizon within 55 minutes. Benayoun’s hat-trick will dominate the headlines but Mascherano’s input was vital. He was magnificent, patrolling in front of the back-four and sliding short passes to Gerrard, Benayoun and John Arne Riise in the midfield.

With Crouch striking superbly after 19 minutes, Mascherano and company held the initiative.

And when Benayoun added an emphatic second after 32 minutes, following another terrific breakaway by Andrei Voronin, the old songs really began rolling around Anfield. Their European dream remained alive.

Chelsea stayed on course to reach the knockout stages after a 0-0 draw at Schalke 04 in group B while AC Milan’s Filippo Inzaghi equalled Gerd Muller’s all-time record of 62 goals in European club soccer in the 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Celtic also remained in the hunt in group D with a 1-0 win over Benfica after 21-year-old midfielder Aiden McGeady rifled in a deflected long-range winner on the stroke of half-time.

Porto leapt into the driving seat in group A with eight points after a 2-1 home win over Olympique Marseille.