AT a time when his acumen in the transfer market is seemingly being called into question, it was somehow apt that Rafael Benitez’s most expensive signing of all should keep Liverpool clinging to a Champions League lifeline last night.

The £18million club record summer move for Fernando Torres bankrolled by George Gillett and Tom Hicks was a statement of the American owners’ backing for their manager.

And against Porto at an emotionally-charged Anfield, it was the contribution of Torres that demonstrated exactly why Benitez deserves a greater show of faith from his superiors.

The striker gave Liverpool an early advantage but, more importantly, then dragged the Anfield team back from the brink of another European nightmare with a pivotal second goal.

Victory keeps Liverpool in with a real chance of progress to the group stage and, at least for the time being, eases the pressure on Benitez.

The Spaniard has taken a conciliatory stance since the divisions within the Anfield corridors of power over transfer strategy spilled over into the public arena last week and moved the manager to the precipice of his reign.

However, anything other than a win last night would have raised serious doubts over Benitez’s future ahead of the Americans’ next scheduled visit to Merseyside for the clash with Manchester United on December 16.

But a triumph in Marseille’s Stade Velodrome on Tuesday week will mean Gillett and Hicks watch over a team that retains hopes of a third Champions League final in four seasons.

It nearly wasn’t that way. Until Torres’s fine 78th-minute strike, Liverpool had laboured to break through a fine Porto team that had deservedly equalised the Spaniard’s opener with a 33rd-minute header from Lisandro Lopez.

Steven Gerrard’s 84th-minute penalty moved him level with Michael Owen on 22 goals as the club’s leading goalscorer in European competition.

And Peter Crouch’s late fourth was his 11th in the competition and vindicated the manager’s decision to introduce both the striker and Harry Kewell midway through the second half.

Certainly, the duo injected fresh impetus into an increasingly lacklustre Liverpool display, their defending unconvincing against a Porto attack for whom Lucho Gonzalez and Ricardo Quaresma were always dangerous on the counter-attack.

Even that shortcoming could be argued to have worked in Benitez’s favour given his attempts to land a new centre-back in the January transfer window, particularly with Daniel Agger having suffered a setback in his recovery from a broken metatarsal.

Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised by the late flurry that gave Liverpool a flattering final scoreline in their 150th European Cup match. Eighteen of their 47 goals this season have come in last 15 minutes, a testament of their ability to fight until the very end.

That’s the kind of quality that wins trophies, and the characteristic Benitez will hope to show in his battle to remain in the Anfield hotseat.

He certainly has the fans onside. The pre-match rally of support outside the ground set the tone for an evening when the manager’s name was chanted throughout by the home crowd, the Kop running through their whole repertoire of songs featuring the Spaniard.

There were four changes from the team that won so convincingly at Newcastle United on Saturday, with Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and Gerrard the only survivors for Liverpool from their last meeting at Anfield in March 2001, which the home team won 2-0.

Both sides have won the UEFA Cup and Champions League since then, a mark of the recent European pedigree on display.

Porto are unbeaten leaders in their domestic league this season and went into last night’s game at the head of Group A following two wins and two draws. Their quality caught Liverpool off guard during the 1-1 draw between the sides on the opening matchday in September, and they again began confidently.

Torres served notice of his intent in the 10th minute by capitalising on some slack Porto play and running at the visiting defence before releasing a shot from 20 yards at goalkeeper Helton.

And the Spaniard netted his first goal in the Champions League proper nine minutes later. Benayoun and Steve Finnan – on his 50th European appearance for the club – combined cleverly down the right to force a corner which was delivered by Gerrard for the unattended Torres, aided by Lucho losing his footing, to head powerfully home.

Porto were not discouraged and drew level on 33 minutes. It was a poor goal to concede, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak shrugging off the challenge of Mascherano and crossing for the left for Lopez to reach before Alvaro Arbeloa and head past a centrally-positioned Pepe Reina.

Benitez’s side completely lost their way after losing their lead, Finnan forced to race back and deny Quaresma after Gerrard had inadvertently played the winger through and then, from the same passage of play, Hyypia’s poor clearance allowed Mariano Gonzalez to put Lopez in but the striker somehow clipped the ball wide.

Marek Cech struck a shot that deflected off Finnan and looped over Reina’s crossbar, while Liverpool ’s final effort of the half saw Gerrard’s 35-yard free-kick whistle off target.

Reina’s clever distribution with a long kick proved the catalyst for the first effort after the restart, but Torres’s cutback was horribly miscued wide by Benayoun.

Yet Liverpool’s play going forward was more in hope rather than expectation, with Porto happy to sit deep and play on the break.

Gerrard lashed a shot over but Liverpool were getting nowhere fast, leading Benitez to turn to Crouch and then Kewell. It proved inspired.

Crouch was soon in the thick of things and there were half-hearted claims for a penalty when he tangled with Milan Stepanov, and Ryan Babel then saw a shot hacked clear by the same player.

But Kewell made the difference in the 78th minute when he fed Torres, who turned Stepanov, held off the challenge of Bosingwa and rattled the ball beyond Helton.

Liverpool then ran away with the game with two further goals in the following nine minutes. Under pressure from Hyypia, the hapless Stepanov handled Gerrard’s floated free-kick delivery giving the skipper the chance to send Helton the wrong way from the spot.

And with three minutes remaining, Gerrard’s right-wing corner was headed in by Crouch with goalkeeper Helton forlornly claiming he had been impeded by substitute Dirk Kuyt.

Besiktas’s 2-1 victory over Marseille in last night’s other group game means even a draw in France next Tuesday could see Liverpool progress.

But it’s likely to not just be the team that wins if victory is claimed in a fortnight.