IT was the night when the Little Prince finally produced a performance fit for a King.

Alberto Aquilani has endured one setback after another during a miserable first season at Anfield. Injuries and illness left him playing catch-up and he has struggled to adapt to the physical demands of English football.

The £20million signing, who gained his royal nickname from the Roma fans who adored him, has been spotted only slightly more frequently than Lord Lucan and has been one of the Premier League’s most expensive bench warmers. But at Anfield last night the Italian midfielder finally broke off the shackles and showed why Rafael Benitez thought he was worth splashing out half his summer transfer kitty on.

And why his manager believes he’s capable of belatedly filling the void created by Xabi Alonso’s departure last summer.

Aquilani grabbed his chance to shine as he capped his most impressive display for the club with his first goal.

When he netted in front of the Kop before the break Liverpool had struck three times in the space of six devastating first-half minutes.

Fernando Torres started and finished the rout to take his tally for the season to 15 and Ryan Babel was also on target prior to Nadir Belhadj’s late consolation.

After a nightmare week in which embarrassment at Wigan was followed by another dose of misery in Lille, how grateful Liverpool’s players must have been to see the bright lights of Anfield last night.

For all their problems this season it’s been the home form of Benitez’s men which has kept them in contention in the race for Champions League qualification.

An emphatic seventh successive home league win at the expense of the bottom club halted the latest in a long line of mini-crises to dog the club and lifted them to within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham.

It also avenged their nightmare defeat at the hands of Avram Grant’s doomed side back in December and ended Liverpool’s Monday night hoodoo during Benitez’s six-year rein.

This was a performance full of the kind of attacking intent and purpose so lacking in recent months.

Not since Hull were hit for six back in September had Benitez’s side struck more than two goals in a league game.

They settled for four but could easily have doubled that.

In truth Portsmouth were the perfect guests. This was a walk in the park against a club who only recently avoided going out of business and are doomed to relegation from the top flight.

For all their admirable spirit and belief in the face of adversity the FA Cup semi-finalists have had more owners than league victories this season and were there for the taking.

But the punishment still had to be dished out and a crushing victory was the perfect confidence boost for Liverpool at the start of a pivotal week in the club’s campaign.

Benitez made two changes from the side beaten 1-0 in Lille with Aquilani and Maxi Rodriguez returning to the starting line up in place of Lucas and Dirk Kuyt.

The inclusion of Aquilani was a statement of intent by Benitez who was clearly desperate to boost his side’s creativity after they had fired blanks in their previous two games.

It was only his fifth league start and the Italian was clearly in the mood to impress.

Aquilani’s neat, incisive passing and clever movement added another dimension to Liverpool’s attacking play and helped the hosts carve Portsmouth open.