Liverpool rampage surprises Crouch

Peter Crouch said Liverpool FC had surpassed expectations after defeating PSV Eindhoven 3-0 to take command of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final.

'Felt confident'
Goals from Steven Gerrard, John Arne Riise then Crouch himself put Liverpool within touching distance of a place in the semi-finals and seemingly beyond the reach of the Dutch champions. "We always felt confident we could get the right result but scoring three goals probably surpassed what we expected," Crouch said. "Once we got the first goal we were in control."

'Some milestone'
Gerrard opened the scoring with a header on 27 minutes. It was his 15th goal in the European Champions Clubs' Cup, including qualifying matches, and took him past club legend Ian Rush's tally in the competition. "It's some milestone," Crouch said. "It's difficult to achieve those things at a club the size of Liverpool so well done to him. I'm sure he'll score many more in Europe."

Four in two
Riise powered in the second with a long-range drive four minutes after the break before Crouch headed in Steve Finnan's cross for the third soon after the hour mark. It was Crouch's fourth goal in two games following his hat-trick against Arsenal FC on Saturday and the tall striker was delighted to have been given another chance to impress: "It's nice to be starting. Sometimes when you play 90 minutes in the week the manager likes to chop and change but it wasn't the case tonight. I've played the majority of the game and we've won and you've got to be pleased."

'Everyone's enthusiastic'
The winner of this tie will play either Chelsea FC or Valencia CF in the semi-finals and Crouch admitted with Liverpool now in such a commanding position it was hard not to look ahead. He said: "We're three goals up but PSV are always capable of scoring. We have to make sure we lock it up and be tight at the back as we usually do and take the game to them and maybe get more. Everyone's enthusiastic. It's a fantastic competition to be in. We've always got an eye on who we're playing next but we've still got a job to do."