Liverpool are through to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup after a superb hat-trick from Steven Gerrard and goals from Ryan Babel and Sami Hyypia gave them a 5-0 win over Luton Town on Jamie Carragher's 500th appearance for the club at Anfield on Tuesday.
The Reds now wait the result of the replay between Havant and Waterlooville and Swansea to see who they'll meet in the next round after they finally overcame a plucky Luton at Anfield.
Kevin Blackwell's side defended brilliantly throughout and they looked like they'd seen it through the first half unscathed, but Ryan Babel opened the scoring on the stroke of half time; and Gerrard struck a superb treble to add to a Hyypia header as the Reds turned on the style in the second half.
Luton made a mockery of their status as League One strugglers at Kenilworth Road nine days ago, so it was perhaps no surprise to see Rafa name a strong side for this rematch. That meant starting places for 17 goal Fernando Torres, who was partnered in attack by Peter Crouch, and Steven Gerrard, who played in midfield with Xabi Alonso.
Of course, Gerrard would play without the familiar feel of the captain's armband on his arm, that honour was bestowed, by Gerrard himself and with the consent of Rafa, to Reds legend Jamie Carragher, who was making his 500th appearance of what has been a distinguished Liverpool career.
Carra's landmark was marked by a presentation on the pitch before the game from another of Anfield's 500 club, Ian Callaghan and a guard of honour from both sets of players.
As soon as we got underway it was clear where most of the action would be focused, at the Luton end. We'd had just six minutes when Liverpool created their first good chance, Pennant's deep cross finding the head of Crouch at the far post, but he directed his header narrowly wide.
Liverpool were clearly in the mood, but we were soon to find that Luton's players were in no mood to surrender without a fight. The Reds threatened again in the ninth minute and this time only the width of the post denied Babel's curling effort from the edge of the penalty area.
The game quickly settled into a pattern, it was Liverpool attacking and Luton defending, and how they defended. It was like schoolboy football at times, brave Luton defenders were throwing themselves in front of everything and time after time they blocked goalbound efforts.
The Reds had hammered away at the Luton defence, but the Hatters looked like they would go in at the break with a clean sheet to show for their hard work. But they were to succumb to a late sucker punch just as they thought the hard work was done.
The sight of the fourth official's board showing one minute stoppage time must have come as a welcome sight, but Luton had taken their eyes off Torres and he strode forward before playing in Babel who gave Liverpool the lead from 18 yards.
Rafa's side finally had the lead their dominance deserved and they clearly came out for the second half in a more relaxed mood judged by Xabi Alonso's attempt to recreate the goal he scored from inside his own half he scored against Luton in 2006.
We didn't have to wait long for Liverpool to add to their lead. Babel's goal on the stroke of half time had popped the cork and in the second half Liverpool's football flowed and the goals followed.
It was 2-0 in the 52nd minute when Crouch's header was nodded in from six yards by Gerrard and it quickly became 3-0 in the 57th minute when Sami Hyypia headed home a corner from Gerrard, who had turned provider.
Luton had battled manfully, but they were being swept away by a rampant Reds. Liverpool made it 4-0 in the 64th minute when Gerrard stroked home his 14th goal of the season at the Kop End.
The Luton fans behind Charles Itandje's goal continued to back their team and they amused themselves with chants of 'we're going to win 5-4', but the last word belonged to man of the match Gerrard, who completed his hat-trick in fantastic fashion with a 25 yard screamer in the 71st minute.
Gerrard's hat-trick was the first for a Liverpool player in the FA Cup since Stan Collymore against Rochdale in 1996, and they made it all the way to the final that year.
Teams
Liverpool: Itandje, Riise, Hyypia, Carragher (captain), Arbeloa, Babel, Gerrard, Alonso, Pennant, Crouch, Torres. Subs - Kewell, Leiva, Martin, Kuyt, Aurelio
Luton Town: Brill, Goodall, Robinson, Jackson, Keane, Currie, Hutchison, Spring (captain), Bell, Talbot, Andrew. Subs - O'Leary, Furlong, McVeigh, Emanuel, Parkin
Referee: P Walton
Conditions: Wet
Attendance: 41,446
Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Steven Gerrard