Not a bad way to celebrate his 100th Premier League win as captain.

Although Torres played a significant part in the opening two goals, it was clear the striker is still bothered by the hamstring problems that have hampered his season.

Of greater encouragement to Benitez will be the manner in which even his squad’s fringe players have come in and responded to the task during the run-in.

With Alonso nursing the ankle injury suffered from the red-card challenge by Newcastle United’s Joey Barton last week, Lucas Leiva stepped in to partner Javier Mascherano in defensive midfield.

The Brazilian polarises opinion among supporters but here he was hugely effective in breaking up attacks and keeping possession ticking over in the engine room.

It allowed Mascherano to revel in a slightly more advanced role, the Argentine shading Gerrard as Liverpool’s stellar performer. The less said about his shooting, however, the better.

Ryan Babel has flattered to deceive this season and may be one of those Benitez is considering moving on in the summer to help facilitate the squad fine-tuning the manager believes is necessary for another crack at the championship.

The Dutchman was restricted to another late substitute appearance on Saturday but at least had enough time to force home the third six minutes from time after the unlucky Green had saved his initial effort from Dirk Kuyt’s right-wing cross.

With Liverpool having locked down midfield, West Ham offered little going forward save for a comic moment two minutes before the interval.

An uncharacteristic slip from Jamie Carragher gave David Di Michele a clear run on goal only for the Italian to overhit the ball, stumble and then try to cover his embarrassment by diving into Pepe Reina before even reaching the goalkeeper.

Claiming a penalty, the West Ham striker only received a booking. If there is ever an award for creative simulation, then Cristiano Ronaldo has himself a serious competitor.

Reina didn’t have a save of note to make to ensure a 19th clean sheet of the Premier League campaign, a statistic that delighted the ever-demanding Benitez.

“I am very pleased because we are scoring lots of goals but we are keeping lots of clean sheets as well,” says the Liverpool manager. “That is very positive as well, and it means we have the balance.

“A winning team has to score goals and not concede and so we are in this situation and it’s really good for this year. We will see what happens.

“It is really good for the future because it means we are going in the right direction.”

They may not claim the ultimate prize this season, but even Sir Alex Ferguson would admit that Liverpool are getting there.