Yossi Benayoun grabbed a hat-trick as a rampant Liverpool beat Besiktas to keep their Champions League campaign alive.

Peter Crouch slotted in after his first shot was saved to open the scoring.

Benayoun took down a cross and lashed home before twice side-footing in after John Arne Riise and Steven Gerrard had strikes parried into his path.

Gerrard powered in a shot, Ryan Babel backheeled in a deft goal and then deflected in a Besiktas clearance before Crouch nodded in for an eighth.

Liverpool came into the game with their backs against the wall as they needed victory to keep alive any realistic hopes of progressing in the competition.

The Reds started with the urgency their predicament merited but saw Mehmet Sedef shoot wide at the near post after a cross from Matias Delgado.

The home side heeded the warning as a sign to swarm forward in greater numbers.

Crouch nodded a ball into the path of Andriy Voronin, who shot disappointingly wide, and then got the power on a header from Riise’s cross only to see his effort go wide.

Right-back Alvaro Arbeloa was consistently marauding forward and he crossed for Benayoun to guide a shot against the outside of near post.

The inevitability of the Reds goal finally came when Edouard Cisse inadvertently played Crouch through on goal with a tackle towards his own goal.

Crouch netted the rebound as he scored the goal Liverpool craved to settle nerves before Riise had a header cleared off the line.

Voronin then found Benayoun at the far post and the Israeli took two touches to control and then lash in a shot to add a second.

Liverpool continued to scythe through Besiktas after the break and Benayoun had a simple tap-in for a third after keeper Hakan Arikan could only parry a Riise shot into his path.

The fourth from the Reds came much the same way when Arikan failed to gather a fiercely driven Gerrard free-kick and Benayoun poached a another goal for his hat-trick.

The stunned Turkish visitors had little answer to Liverpool’s play as the Anfield side refused to let up.

And another goal soon followed as a superb backheel from Voronin put Gerrard through on goal as the two players produced a neat one-two, which the Reds skipper finished with a stinging shot.

Benayoun turned provider late on when he crossed low for Babel and he audaciously back-heeled in at the near post.

Dutch forward Babel chased down a long ball and was rewarded when a clearance struck him and looped into the net.

Babel even had time to head against the crossbar, while Crouch glanced in a header from a Benayoun cross to complete the rout and the biggest win in the Champions League.

Team Line-ups

Liverpool: Reina, Aurelio (Babel 63), Hyypia, Carragher, Arbeloa, Riise, Mascherano, Gerrard (Lucas 72), Benayoun, Voronin (Kewell 72), Crouch.
Subs Not Used: Martin, Finnan, Torres, Kuyt.
Goals: Crouch 19, Benayoun 32, 53, 56, Gerrard 69, Babel 79, 81, Crouch 89.

Besiktas: Arikan, Uzulmez, Toraman, Diatta, Kurtulus (Higuain 62), Sedef (Ricardinho 78), Cisse, Avci, Ozcan (Tandogan 46), Delgado, Bobo.
Subs Not Used: Rustu, Yozgatli, Kas, Karadeniz.

Booked: Ozcan.

Att: 41,143