LIVERPOOL // Fernando Torres said he was never worried about his goal drought as Liverpool continued their solid start to the season and push for honours.
The Spanish striker had gone six games without scoring, but that was soon forgotten as he struck twice to sink Everton yesterday.
The brace could not have come at a better time as it settled a tight Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Torres, who fired 33 goals last season, has now set his sights on even more, hoping too that the Reds will use this vital victory as a springboard to success at home and abroad.
"Six games [without a goal] is too many times for a Liverpool striker," he said.
"I have been working hard, I knew the goals would arrive. Now I want to keep going, scoring in the Champions League and scoring almost every game.
"We know if we can stay near the top of the table in January or February we can win it.
"We must stay in the first three or four of the league and if we can win in the Champions League we can have a fantastic season."
Robbie Keane was involved in both goals too and Rafa Benitez will have been pleased to see his £46.5 million (Dh314m) strikeforce finally show there is a potent partnership developing between them.
Keane has not scored in 10 games since his summer arrival from Tottenham, but his second-half performance was much improved and he will take heart from the way Torres bounced back after his goal famine.
Torres, who had last scored against Sunderland on the opening day of the league season, was a frustrated figure early on, unhappy with the physical approach of the home side.
But, typically, he responded in the best way with two fine finishes and was only denied a hat-trick by the whistle of Mike Riley.
Benitez saluted his fellow countryman and was always confident his side, unbeaten so far this season, would get past their battling neighbours.
"It was important for him [Torres] and us that he gets two goals in a derby," he said.
"I think we were always in control. We were organised and knew what we had to do. The teamwork was really good.
"If we continue winning and he [Keane] keeps playing well, I will be pleased. He was working hard for the team and was another key player for us."
The defeat was Everton's third in succession at home.
Goodison Park manager David Moyes said that he will appeal the straight red card his goalscoring midfielder Tim Cahill was awarded for his late challenge on Xabi Alonso in the 80th minute.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
