Steven Gerrard was Liverpool’s saviour again last night with a second half hat-trick to sink Napoli at Anfield. Gerrard came off the bench at half-time and guided Liverpool to the brink of qualification.

Ezequiel Lavezzi put the visitors ahead on 28 minutes when he raced clear from the Reds’ defence and shot past Pepe Reina. It was no more than Napoli deserved after controlling the game and making the home side look like cautious visitors.

Roy Hodgson stuck with the majority of the same team that featured in Naples a fortnight ago, with Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey retaining their place in the starting eleven. Napoli dominated the game and Liverpool would have been happy going into half-time just the one goal down.

The second-half arrived, as did Gerrard, who instantly gave Liverpool the edge they were missing and the home side began to control proceedings.

Both David Ngog and Raul Meireles spurned chances for Liverpool until Andrea Dossena gifted Gerrard his first goal. His tame back pass fell well short of Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis leaving Gerrard to lift the ball over the oncoming ‘keeper.

Napoli were fortunate to have 11 men on the pitch when Salvatore Aronica’s lunge on Ngog was missed by the officials. This proved irrelevant with two minutes remaining though, as Glenn Johnson charged his way into the Napoli area only to be brought down by Aroncia. Gerrard stepped up and emphatically dispatched the penalty past De Sanctis to give Liverpool the lead.

The win was confirmed a minute later when more poor defending from Napoli gave Gerrard the chance for his hat-trick. He duly obliged with a cheeky chip over De Sanctis. Gerrard was once again Liverpool’s saviour and now leaves them three points clear of Group K.

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CITY COLLAPSE IN A MISERABLE WEEK FOR MANCINI

A 3-1 defeat ended a poor week for Manchester City and leaves Roberto Mancini’s team needing three points from their final two matches to secure Group A qualification.

After a week of allegations following supposed bust-ups and arguments within the squad, the Eastlands club collapsed to a lively Lech Poznan who have taken control of Group A.

Mancini made eight changes from last weekend’s defeat to Wolves, and despite City dominating the first quarter of the match and squandering numerous chances, it was Lech who opened the scoring. Patrick Viera’s clearing header found its way to Dimitrije Injac, who coolly slotted the Polish side into the lead.

Several City players had chances to take the lead, with Poznan struggling to get a foothold in the game. Emmanuel Adebayor and Vieira came close, but their efforts either missed the target or were well saved by Lech ‘keeper Jasmin Buric.

The home side started to control the second quarter of the game and capitalised on City’s failings when Injac fired past Shay Given. Six minutes into the second half, Adebayor pulled City level. His header from James Milner’s cross was well saved, but his follow-up shot was unstoppable.

Lech came back strong and Slawomir Peszko had a strong penalty appeal turned down, while David Silva struck the bar for City. As time was ticking down and with both teams seemingly happy for a draw, fortune favoured Lech when Dedryck Boyata’s clearing header struck Manuel Arboleda’s head and found its way into the City goal.

City’s defeat was confirmed when Mateusz Mozdzen scored the goal of the evening with a stunning strike to round-up a miserable week for Roberto Mancini.

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Europa League Matchday Three Results

Group A

Lech Poznan 3-1 Manchester City

Juventus 0-0 SV Salzburg

Group B

Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Aris Salonika

Rosenborg 1-2 Atletico Madrid

Group C

AA Gent 3-1 Sporting Lisbon

Levski Sofia 2-2 Lille

Group D

Club Bruges 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb

PAOK Salonika 1-0 Villarreal

Group E

BATE Borisov 3-1 FC Sheriff Tiraspol

Dynamo Kiev 2-0 AZ Alkmaar

Group F

CSKA Moscow 3-1 Palermo

Lausanne Sports 1-3 Sparta Prague

Group G

AEK Athens 1-1 Anderlecht

Hajduk Split 2-3 Zenit St Petersburg

Group H

Getafe 0-3 VfB Stuttgart

Odense BK 2-0 Young Boys

Group I

PSV Eindhoven 3-0 Debrecen

Sampdoria 0-0 FC Metalist Kharkiv

Group J

PSG 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

Sevilla 4-0 Karpaty Lviv

Group K

Liverpool 3-1 Napoli

Steaua Bucharest 3-1 FC Utrecht

Group L

FC Porto 1-1 Besiktas

Rapid Vienna 1-2 CSKA Sofia