Liverpool ended a Monday night hoodoo and raised their Champions League qualification hopes as Alberto Aquilani starred in a 4-1 home win over a despondent Portsmouth.

Aquilani has been used sparingly by Benitez since arriving injured from Roma in a £20 million deal last summer and tonight at Anfield he was making only his fifth start.

But he was at the heart of Liverpool's best play as Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Aquilani himself scored in a six-minute spell in the first half before Torres netted with 13 minutes to go and Nadir Belhadj grabbed a late consolation.

Torres broke the deadlock on 26 minutes when he fired past Jamie Ashdown after being set up by Maxi Rodriguez.

The Spaniard played a crucial role in Liverpool's second when his pass allowed Ryan Babel to poke home after good work by Glen Johnson.

Aquilani scored his first-ever Reds goal shortly after when Steven Gerrard played in Torres, who returned the pass only for his captain to sell the Pompey defence a dummy and let the Italian hit the back of the net.

Torres got his second of the night late in the second half from an Aquilani assist, while Belhadj scored a late consolation after being set up by Frederic Piquionne.

The result, the first time Liverpool have scored more than two goals in a league match since the 6-1 defeat of Hull City in September, was Liverpool's first win on a Monday in nine attempts in a dismal run going back almost a decade.

More importantly, the three points lifted them to fifth with 51 points from 30 games, one point behind Tottenham Hotspur, who have played 29 games.

Manchester City are in sixth with 50 points from 28 games, while Aston Villa have 46 points from 27 games in the race for fourth place.