IT HAD been almost like a Papal audience as Liverpool’s players queued up to meet the closest thing to football holiness, admittedly one with a few imperfections, the day before. But whatever Diego Maradona sprinkled over Rafa Benitez’s men at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground on Friday it had its effect, certainly on Robbie Keane, who, after 11 matches and nearly a three-month wait, finally scored his first Premier League goal for the club.

Then, bless his frustrated soul, he swiftly doubled it with the kind of finish that confirms why Liverpool laid out £20m for him in the summer. The irony was that, with every judge suggesting that the Republic of Ireland striker would only regain the scoring habit of his Tottenham days once he was was working in tandem with Fernando Torres, he struck while the Spanish striker was seated on the bench.

Torres eventually appeared to a rapturous reception late on, replacing Keane, but by then Liverpool’s work was complete, although full-back Alvaro Arbeloa completed a splendid night with a late third. Heaven only help the remainder of the league when Keane and a match-fit Torres renew the partnership they had begun to forge before the latter’s injury when the pair accumulated five goals in three matches.

“The monkey,” declared Benitez, determined to employ the managerial vernacular of his adopted land, “is off his back.” The Liverpool manager added: “Robbie has been playing well and working hard for the team. But he will be happier after this. He is always a threat to defenders. If they make a mistake, he will be there.”

He was, after an initial half-hour in which the visitors, neat and tidy and always thoughtful in their approach, appeared capable of matching Liverpool’s endeavour. Then Steven Gerrard’s beautifully weighted ball into the area allowed Keane to place his shot over the advancing Scott Carson, the former Liverpool goalkeeper, and you sensed that the West Brom fire had begun to be extinguished.

Two minutes before the interval, and another splendid piece of creation, this time by Fabio Aurelio on the left, allowed Keane to round Carson before putting the ball into an empty net. His only previous goals had come in Europe.

The onus is always on Keane to score early. This is a man well conditioned to the effects of the credit crunch by already being on short-time working. He knows his time on the pitch is limited, and here he made the most of both opportunities presented to him before Benitez called time after 71 minutes.

It was all an appropriate finale to a week in which the club has succumbed to a rare sense of unity, Benitez having been invited by American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to extend his tenure beyond 2010, when his current deal expires.

Not too many suspected that at this stage Liverpool would be engaged in serious argument with Chelsea over Premier League domination. Having slipped up at White Hart Lane last week, they needed to pick up their early pace again in the championship race, the spectacle of Torres returning encouragement to the home supporters that their team is now well equipped to do so.

Despite manager Tony Mowbray’s claim that he is “not too concerned at this stage”, West Brom are in jeopardy of becoming relegation recidivists. They started with an admirable attitude of anything Stoke can do (Tony Pulis’s men prised a goalless draw) we can do better. By half-time, it was a case of damage limitation as Liverpool gradually applied the pressure.

The last time interest rates were this low, Liverpool were winning league titles. Actually, that’s not quite true, though it must seem that way to older members of The Kop faithful. But with Torres back and Keane back in goalscoring form, at last Liverpool can believe.

LIVERPOOL: Reina 7, Arbeloa 7, Agger 6, Carragher 7, Aurelio 6, Benayoun 6, Mascherano 7, Gerrard 8 (Alonso 80min), Riera 7 (Babel 65min), Keane 9 (Torres 71min), Kuyt 8
WEST BROM: Carson 7, Zuiverloon 6, Olsson 6, Donk 6, Robinson 7, Koren 6, Borja Valero 6, Greening 7, Kim 6 (Filipe Teixeira 56min, 6), Bednar 5 (Moore 56min, 6) Miller 7 (Brunt 71min)

Star man: Robbie Keane (Liverpool)

Yellow cards: Liverpool: Arbeloa, Mascherano West Brom: Olsson

Referee: P Walton

Attendance: 43,451