The keeper was busy again shortly afterwards, pawing wide an angled drive from Kuyt after the Dutchman barged his way through the Unirea defence.

Fabio Aurelio swept an ambitious 30-yard free-kick wide, while Gerrard couldn’t quite gain a proper connection with his header from a driven Riera cross.

But it was a false dawn.

After Liverpool’s bright start faded in the face of their stubborn opponents, the lack of attacking progress was reflected in the subdued atmosphere of the sizeable Anfield crowd.

Javier Mascherano warmed the crowd with a 35-yard thunderbolt destined for the top corner until blocked by Unirea midfielder Iulian Apostol, and Ngog showed good skill when he accepted a Gerrard cross on his chest, turned cleverly past Bruno Fernandes and dragged a shot narrowly wide.

Although the first half was played almost exclusively inside the visiting half, Liverpool’s lack of creativity and movement was painfully apparent.

And it was no different immediately after the break, Benitez’s men enjoying most of the possession but showing little sign of finding a way through the Unirea defence.

Gerrard headed a Jamie Carragher cross wide, while Aurelio spotted a rare gap in the centre of the visiting backline only for his 25-yard drive to be well saved by Arlauskis.

It wasn’t until an hour that Unirea fashioned anything resembling a decent opportunity, Razvan Paduretu slicing a shot harmlessly off target from the edge of the area.

Ngog saw a shot blocked with both he and Gerrard frantically trying to burrow their way goal and, from the resultant Aurelio corner, Martin Skrtel sent a free header wastefully over from close range.

Ngog then headed wide, Gerrard’s close-range shot was parried by Arlauskis and Babel, on for the ineffective Riera, slashed a volley over. But Liverpool’s increasing pressure finally told in the 81st minute when substitutes Babel and Pacheco combined, the former’s cross to the far post nodded across goal by the latter for the incoming Ngog to head home from inside the six-yard box.

Gerrard almost doubled the lead with a 25-yard shot that whistled narrowly wide, while Mascherano had strong claims for a penalty late on when brought down by Pablo Brandan.

A win, though, is a win, and will bolster confidence ahead of Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash at Manchester City.

Certainly, last night was as good a reason as any why Liverpool need to be back in the Champions League.