SOME critics may have been picturing the end of Rafael Benitez’s reign before kick-off, but his Liverpool team etched another memorable European triumph into Anfield folklore last night.

Late goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard didn’t just ensure the Spaniard’s side a notable victory against Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie.

They went a significant distance towards saving the manager’s job.

Earlier in the day, Liverpool officials had spent the morning removing anti-Benitez graffiti from the walls of the club’s Melwood training ground.

Those critics represent a minority of the Liverpool support. But after the shocking home FA Cup defeat to Barnsley on Saturday, it was evident the Spaniard needed a positive result last night.

How his players responded. Liverpool richly deserved their 100th European win at Anfield in a game which they dominated, admittedly having been aided by the misfortune of a former Everton player.

The sending-off of Marco Materazzi after half-an-hour for two bookable offences on Fernando Torres convinced Inter, whose game-plan from the start had clearly been to return to Milan with a goalless draw, to sit back and hinder Liverpool.

For 85 minutes, it worked. A frustrating Anfield evening had echoes of the Barnsley debacle three days earlier, when Liverpool were camped in the opposing half, created enough chances but simply could not score.

It required a touch of fortune off Inter full-back Maicon to deflect home Kuyt’s shot before Gerrard delivered his customary Champions League cracker with a low 20-yard drive in the final minute.

The goal was the skipper’s 50th of his career at Anfield as he became the first Liverpool player to score in five successive European games in one season.

It was telling that both strikes arrived when defender Ivan Cordoba, Inter’s finest performer by some distance, had departed the field with an injury that will keep him out of the second leg.

With Materazzi suspended, Roberto Mancini will be without both first-choice centre-backs for the return match in the San Siro on March 11.

Of course, Inter’s dominance of Serie A in recent years – and Liverpool’s own inconsistent form – means nothing will be taken for granted in three weeks’ time.

History also suggests Benitez’s side must be wary – the only time Liverpool have surrendered a two-goal first-leg lead in Europe was their controversial European Cup semi-final meeting with Inter in 1965.

But this was the shot in the arm the Spaniard’s team desperately needed to revive their ailing season. Individuals, too, should benefit. Steve Finnan rediscovered the form that has deserted him in recent times, while the luck in Kuyt’s opener was merited for a hard-working performance that can only bolster the Dutchman’s confidence.

How on earth Liverpool can follow a performance as complacently pathetic against Barnsley with one as thrillingly intense as this against the Italian champions is the question Benitez will ultimately have to address if he is to realise his ambitions of long-term success at Anfield.

Gerrard believed Liverpool would need their best performance of the season to take ensure a positive result. And Benitez took note of his team’s most encouraging performance of the calendar year by employing the 4-2-3-1 formation that proved a qualified success in the goalless draw at Stamford Bridge 10 days earlier.

The Spaniard was vindicated once again. Gerrard bustled throughout but even he was outshone by the effervescent Javier Mascherano, who lived up to his pre-match statement of intent.

Inter had lost just three of their previous 45 away games, but the statistics told their story last night: one corner, three shots at goal, none on target.

England coach Fabio Capello – whose ties with AC Milan and Juventus meant he suffered abuse from Inter followers while walking up to the ground – was among the crowd as a packed Anfield bubbled with expectation.

When an Italian side last visited, Capello’s Juventus in 2005, they were blown away by two goals inside the opening 25 minutes. Last night it was the opposite, although Liverpool sought a similar whirlwind opening.

Jamie Carragher claimed a penalty in the third minute when his shot struck the arm of a falling Cordoba, before Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar turned over a towering Sami Hyypia header.

However, with Materazzi and centre-back partner Cordoba in robust form, Liverpool struggled to fashion clear opportunities.

Materazzi, though, was a bit too robust for the liking of referee Frank de Bleeckere who, having somewhat harshly cautioned the defender for upending Fernando Torres in the 12th minute, was correct to issue a second yellow card on the half-hour for a tug on the same player.

That absence of commonsense saw Materazzi sent off three times during his sole season at Goodison Park, including a red card on his last appearance on Merseyside for Everton against Coventry City in April 1999.

Liverpool were hampered by their infuriating inability to clear the first man at set-pieces allied to a lack of numbers inside the area, never more evident than on the stroke of half-time when Gerrard burst past Maicon to the byline and crossed low into a deserted six-yard box.

The second half continued in the same manner and Liverpool almost went ahead on 58 minutes, when a kind deflection put Torres in on goal and his low shot was destined for the bottom corner until the slightest of fingertips from Cesar diverted the ball wide.

Hyypia then headed Kuyt’s cross narrowly over before the home team were denied a stonewall penalty when Patrick Vieira, on from the bench to bolster Inter’s rearguard action, handled as Gerrard flicked the ball over the ex-Arsenal man.

After Torres was narrowly wide with a low drive from range, Benitez sacrificed the midfield stability of Lucas for the extra firepower and height offered by Peter Crouch.

A rare mistake from Cordoba soon allowed Crouch to slash a shot wide while another effort from the substitute was crowded out by the packed away defence.

But just when it appeared Liverpool would be frustrated, they found a way through with five minutes remaining.

Good work from Finnan kept the ball in play on the right flank before feeding substitute Jermaine Pennant.

The winger’s cross missed those waiting in the centre but reached Kuyt at the far post, whose shot looped over Cesar via Maicon’s boot.

An exhausted Inter wilted. And Gerrard finished them off with a fine goal in the final minute of normal time, skimming an angled low drive in from 20 yards to change the complexion of the tie.

By then, the only writing that mattered was that on Anfield’s electronic scoreboard.