| Dominic Fifield at Darius and Girenas Stadium Wednesday July 27 , 2005 The Guardian Liverpool supporters have seen it all now . Most are still pinching themselves after seeing their side lift the European Cup in May . Some , perhaps unjustly , are flinching at the £ 7m paid to Southampton for Peter Crouch . But all must have reeled in disbelief here last night at the sight of Jamie Carragher scoring a goal . The centre-half 's reward , his first in six years and only the third goal of his career , helped establish a lead in this tie which should see Liverpool safely through to the third qualifying stage . It was timely , too . The holders trailed briefly and , on an awkward surface against spirited opponents , flirted with disaster before , eventually , their class told . Article continues A two-goal advantage going into next week 's return should prove sufficient to ensure progress , with the draw for the final qualifying phase to be made on Friday . The possibility of facing Everton at that stage looms large , though for the moment Liverpool can take heart at a job half done . Rafael Benítez leaves the Baltic encouraged that , if he can prise a goal from Carragher , he is a miracle worker indeed . " It 's been such a long time it 's a little bit embarrassing really but I 'm delighted to get that monkey off my back , " admitted the 27-year-old , whose last goal had come in the 7-1 thrashing of Southampton in January 1999 . " Hopefully I can add to that now . The manager said after the game he wants another three or four this season . That 's the target . I probably deserve the match ball after that . Me scoring one is like someone else getting a hat-trick . " Liverpool needed him to break that long duck . Preparation , by Benítez 's standards , had been sketchy for this tie and , confronted by the Lithuanians ' eager early aggression , the holders briefly teetered . For six minutes embarrassment threatened after Arturas Rimkevicius gathered from a throw-in and flummoxed the ponderous Sami Hyypia near the touchline . The striker tore towards the area and pulled back to the top of the six-yard box where Giedrius Barevicius ' mis-hit shot wrong-footed José Reina and dribbled in . The giddy reality of their lead took time to sink in with the locals and , had their striker Andrius Velicka been fit , they might have prospered further . Yet it always looked a temporary upset of the natural order . By the interval Liverpool were ahead . First Boudewijn Zenden 's looping cross was nodded down by the debutant Crouch , a signing of real stature who provided no little elegance in his ground-play . Mindaugas Baguzis could have cleared but he dithered near the penalty spot and Djibril Cissé spun and thumped the equaliser into the corner . Kaunas 's spirit momentarily drained and , while heads were down , Steven Gerrard 's corner was headed in for Carragher 's rare party piece . Cissé should have added a third before the interval , bursting on to Xabi Alonso 's threaded pass and skimming a shot beyond Eduardas Kurskis only for Irmantas Zelmikas to scramble the ball from the line . The Frenchman missed again when clean through near the end but Liverpool 's dominance had long since been established . There was real promise in the combination of Crouch and Cissé , the reassurance of Fernando Morientes emerging from the bench and Alonso 's clever passing alongside Gerrard 's purring menace in midfield . The hapless Baguzis tripped the galloping captain in the area nine minutes into the second period and Gerrard dispatched the penalty himself , his 15th European goal . " We 're strong favourites and 90 % certain of going through after that but we 'll still need to find the other 10 % now , " added Carragher . " We 'll show them respect because we always do . " Even so , a professional performance in what should prove a formality of the return next Tuesday and Liverpool , seeded and warming up nicely , will be one stage away from the Champions League proper . |