GOAL KING ... Liverpool hitman Fernando Torres struck a late winner to sink Aston Villa
THERE is already a space reserved in the Anfield Hall of Fame for Liverpool's favourite Spanish Torreador.
They like a striker on Merseyside - Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, John Aldridge, Michael Owen, Albert Stubbins.
But Fernando Torres is on course to top the lot of them.
The forward hardly had a touch at snow-swept Villa Park.
But a night of anonymity was instantly forgotten as he delivered three points to grateful boss Rafa Benitez with a 93rd-minute strike.
When Torres comes alive in the penalty area he is virtually unstoppable. Muchos gracias, amigo!
Torres scored his 12th goal in 15 league games and his 50th in 72 top-flight matches to make Liverpool history. To put the statistic into perspective, Rush took 84 matches to clock the half-century, Fowler 88 and Owen 98.
Even good old Stubbins, back in the 1940s, needed 80 games to reach the landmark.
Stubbins' other claim to fame is that he is featured on the front cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the classic Beatles album now digitally remastered and released again.
Liverpool have their own digital master in Torres - although Villa boss Martin O'Neill might not agree.
O'Neill looked on in stunned disbelief as his team were mugged in a snowstorm.
Torres struck after the excellent Richard Dunne slipped and Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun combined to set up the Spaniard, who clinically swept home an inch-perfect low shot.
It was really harsh on the home side who had not lost in front of their own fans since the opening fixture of the season.
The snow arrived bang on forecast, which made watching a slightly surreal experience as a blizzard swirled round Villa Park.
Ski goggles would have been nice - and that was just on the pitch! This is the time of year when most of Europe takes a footballing break and the English go fixture-crazy.
Benitez has been around long enough to get used to the demands of the Christmas programme.
He has also been around long enough to know his job is very much on the line after half a campaign of under-achievement.
This time last year Liverpool were top and looking like title contenders, yet they started last night 15 points adrift of leaders Chelsea in eighth place - and out of the Champions League.
Bouncing back from Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal was the main item on a Villa agenda which next week takes in a Carling Cup semi-final against Blackburn.
Back in August, Villa blew the first hole in the Anfield foundations with a 3-1 thumping.
It meant they were bidding for their first double over Liverpool since the 1993 season. Kop skipper Steven Gerrard must secretly feel he alone is carrying the weight of a club on his shoulders, so it was no surprise when he created the visitors' first proper chance.
His low free-kick took a late deflection for a corner and proved to be a warm-up for a shot which Brad Friedel tipped over the bar 60 seconds later.
The American keeper also made a routine catch from a Torres header. And when Alberto Aquilani fed the Spanish star, Friedel was out to block.
Pepe Reina again showed his worth to the Liverpool cause with one fabulous stop to deny Stewart Downing's volley.
Reina also caught Dunne's header from Downing's corner and scooped up a soft effort from James Milner. There is always an edge to matches between these two sides, perhaps because Benitez and O'Neill are hardly friends following the spat over Gareth Barry 18 months ago.
They stood a few feet apart in the snow, which had absolutely no chance of thawing in that area!
Villa desperately went searching for the winner while home keeper Friedel was not really tested.
Reina had to save from Gabby Agbonlahor while John Carew flashed a header wide.
Then, in the dying seconds, disaster for Villa - unbridled joy for Benitez.
O'Neill has to be a master psychologist again to lift his deflated players. The Carling Cup becomes a very important hurdle to clear.
As for Benitez, one snow flake does not make a blizzard.
But it is a start.
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