NOT even the usual solace of European competition could offer Rafael Benitez refuge from his current woes last night.

A miserable run of form continued with Liverpool’s Champions League hopes taking another significant knock with sickening defeat at home to Lyon.

Yossi Benayoun’s 41st-minute opener was cancelled out by substitute Maxime Gonalons and an injury-time winner from Cesar Delgado.

After the failure at Fiorentina, the collapse at Chelsea and the surrender to Sunderland, this was a fourth successive defeat for Benitez’s confidence-shot side.

Not since April 1987 have Liverpool registered such a losing run of form. But while the team that season reached a domestic cup final and finished runner-up in the league, this vintage is in danger of undoing all their undoubted progress of the previous two year.

The jeers that greeted Benitez’s decision to replace goalscorer Benayoun in the closing moments, and the boos that thundered around the ground at the final whistle, underlined the frustration that has been growing among the Anfield faithful for some time.

No wonder. They can see a season that began with such promise slowly slipping away, and with Manchester United and Arsenal to play in the next week, there appears no obvious respite from the gloom.

Even the return of Steven Gerrard last night from an adductor problem offered no encouragement, the skipper lasting only 25 minutes before hobbling off having aggravated the injury.

The gamble didn’t pay off, and Gerrard is now a major doubt for Sunday’s visit of United.

Certainly, Liverpool’s injury concerns show no signs of abating. The absence of Fernando Torres and Albert Riera was compounded by the groin problem that also forced out Glen Johnson.

Liverpool had given little evidence at the Stadium of Light on Saturday that their squad could cope with the absence of a number of key personnel, a belief that was further justified last night.

Lyon had won just one of their 10 meetings with English teams before last night.

But their record of reaching the knockout stages in each of the last six seasons, while claiming seven of the last eight French championships, meant Benitez’s side were anticipating a tough evening against a team that had yet to concede in Group E.

The absence of Philipp Degen from the Champions League squad meant a full debut at right-back for local boy Martin Kelly, who had previously only played eight minutes as a late substitute in the 3-1 win at PSV Eindhoven.

There are high hopes for the 19-year-old, who impressed during pre-season and on a brief loan spell at Huddersfield Town last season.

Following a shaky opening, Kelly settled into a decent performance which was curtailed when he sustained an injury while attempting to prevent Lyon’s equaliser.

The third successive blank at Sunderland prompted Benitez to reshuffle his attack with David Ngog asked to lead the line in only the seventh start of his Liverpool career, one of five changes from the weekend.

Although Gerrard struck an early shot into the side-netting, the early signs did not augur well against a Lyon team that lead the French table.

They came close in the 10th minute, when a driven cross from the left wing by Aly Cissokho was met by the head of Lisandro Lopez only for Pepe Reina to beat the ball out from point-blank range.

A relieved Anfield crowd saluted the save but the truth is Argentine striker Lisandro, touted as the visitors’ main danger, should have scored.

Liverpool had the ball in the net five minutes later when Dirk Kuyt headed in a Gerrard cross from the left, but the Dutchman, somewhat harshly, was adjudged to have pushed Jeremy Toulalan in scoring.

The game, though, soon descended into below-par fare, with Liverpool struggling to muster any creativity from midfield and Lyon curiously lacking the conviction to capitalise on the problems of their hosts.

Benitez’s side were therefore able to gradually rebuild their confidence and, with substitute Aurelio heavily involved, finished the half the stronger.

They came close on 36 minutes. Kelly did well to keep the ball in and cross from the right to Aurelio at the far post, who played into the area where Kuyt’s lunging effort was blocked by Cissokho and Ngog’s snapshot solicited a good parry by Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

But Liverpool found a way through five minutes later, the visitors once again struggled to deal with a ball into the area.

Lucas fed Aurelio down the left and, from the Brazilian’s driven low cross, Ngog had a swing, Lucas and Kelly bumped into each other before Benayoun kept his cool to finish beyond Lloris.

Aurelio almost doubled the advantage moments later, his bullet header from a fine Kelly cross brilliantly turned behind by Lloris.

Ngog then nodded Emiliano Insua’s left-wing cross over and the lively Aurelio thrashed a rising shot narrowly off target.

Liverpool continued to look the most likely in the second period, Benayoun heading a Kuyt cross wide and, from another good Kelly cross, Ngog controlled the ball well on his chest but screwed past the post off his shin.

Lloris then produced a second excellent save to dive low to his right to deny Kuyt’s header, but Lyon began to slowly increase the pressure on Liverpool’s makeshift backline.

And the French side were level on 72 minutes. After failing to properly deal with a corner, Reina then made two fine saves from Toulalan and Sidney Govou before the ball broke to substitute Maxime Gonalons to head in from six yards.

Then in injury time Govou crossed for another substitute, Delgado, to prod the ball home at the far post.

There may have been no beach ball, but this was still a deflating evening for Liverpool.