Chilean winger Gonzalez popped up with a goal two minutes from time, just moments after coming on as a subsitute in his Liverpool debut to give the English side a precious advantage to take into the away leg.

But Haifa -- whose players have spent the past few weeks living in hotels as their home city gets bombarded by Hezbollah rockets fired from nearby Lebanon -- very nearly forced what would have been a famous draw.

Haifa took the lead on half an hour through Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Boccoli, before home debutant Bellamy equalised, seizing on Momo Sissoko's blocked shot to fire into the top corner.

Haifa delighted their tiny knot of noisy, green-shirted fans with some dogged defence, Argentinian striker Roberto Colautti even coming close to re-taking the lead after 15 minutes of the second half.

As Anfield grew increasingly anxious, Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez threw on Luis Garcia for Bolo Zenden, and then England striker Peter Crouch, surprisingly left on the bench for a one-man attack, replaced Bellamy.

Finally, Gonzalez was sent on with five minutes remaining, and scored a dramatic 88th-minute winner, firing high into the roof of the net after latching onto a Xabi Alonso cross.

The victory gives Liverpool one foot in the main draw of the Champions League, worth an estimated 12 million pounds (22.8 million dollars) in extra revenue.

The "away" leg will be played at a neutral venue with either Kiev or Cyprus in the running to host, after UEFA ruled that it was too dangerous to hold a game in any part of Israel.

Benitez began the night fielding new signings Bellamy, a 6 million pound capture from Blackburn and winger Jermaine Pennant.

Although Bellamy was a lone striker, with captain Steven Gerrard pushing up with Pennant and Zenden on the wings, the early pressure was all from Liverpool and the Kop faithful perhaps sensed an easy night.

It was not to be -- just before half an hour had gone, Haifa exchanged some neat passes before Colautti, once of Boca Juniors, beat the offside trap to release fellow South American Boccoli.

The Brazilian, whose 12 goals from midfield last season helped make him Israel's player of year, advanced coolly on Jose Reina and finished crisply to the joy of the several hundred noisy, green-shirted Haifa fans who had made the trip from Israel.

The goal spurred Liverpool into action and they struck less than four minutes later.

Pennant, whose pace and skills tormented Haifa left back Haim Magrashvili all evening, again sprinted past the defence and cut back a pass to Sissoko.

The midfielder's shot was parried by Nir Davidovitch in the Haifa goal, and Bellamy stole in to fire the lose ball into the top corner.

Then came the long frustration for the home crowd, as Liverpool waited for the last moment to seal victory.

Despite numbering in their hundreds, the Haifa fans cheered their team till the end. For many, the match was more than a chance to cheer on their heroes -- it was also an opportunity to take a break from their home city.

Some fans admitted ruefully outside the ground that however much they enjoyed the game, half their mind would remain on friends and family huddling in bomb shelters in Haifa.

"What can I do? I think about them all the time, but life has to continue," one man told AFP standing with his 13-year-old son -- his wife and two daughters still in Haifa.