Agger talks up Liverpool's united front

Liverpool FC showed their "united front" with an impressive victory against LOSC Lille Métropole according to defender Daniel Agger.

The club's supporters began the day talking about Albert Riera's comments about his manager in a Spanish radio interview, but they ended it discussing another Spaniard after Fernando Torres struck twice to secure the 3-0 win that overturned Lille's 1-0 first-leg advantage.

Agger, 25, said: "It is always important to have a united front. This is the last trophy we can win – we have to give everything we can to win it. We have to show it on the pitch and we did that tonight – 3-0 against a good football team like that is a good result."

The Reds opened the scoring through Steven Gerrard's eighth-minute penalty and had ten shots on target to Lille's one in the first half, though it was not until four minutes into the second period that Torres gave them the overall advantage with a classy finish. Despite one or two jittery moments, they then killed off Lille with a late third by Torres, who is now returning to form after an injury-interrupted season.

Agger hailed the impact of Torres, who is still only "50%" matchfit according to manager Rafael Benítez. His double strike was his second in four days following Monday's 4-1 defeat of Portsmouth FC and the Danish international centre-back said it underlined his importance to Liverpool: "The game speaks for itself. We need some goals and he provides it."

Eden Hazard, Lille's match-winner in the first leg, missed his team's best chance in the first half when he broke through only for his shot to cannon off the head of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

"I shot and I think he stopped with it with his head," said Hazard, who went on to praise Liverpool's performance. "We knew they were a good team with some great players in Gerrard and Torres and he [Torres] showed that today with his two goals. They were good on the ball, their movement was excellent and it was difficult with the public behind them."