Liverpool underlined their intent not to hand over fourth place without a fight as they outplayed Sunderland in cruising to a 3-0 win.
Sunderland put to the sword on miserable trip to Merseyside
Liverpool underlined their intent not to hand over fourth place without a fight as they played some wonderfully expansive football in beating Sunderland 3-0 at Anfield.
Fernando Torres was the star as a pair of stunning goals sandwiched an effort from Glen Johnson to move Liverpool to within four points of Tottenham.
The defensive shackles that have afflicted Liverpool so often this season were banished from the off as an attack-minded line-up tore about a Sunderland outfit which has enjoyed a mini-renaissance of late, but was badly out of sorts on Merseyside.
Liverpool needed just three minutes to pierce Sunderland's backline as Torres demonstrated what might have been had he not struggled with niggling knocks for much of the campaign. There was nothing pretty about Jose Reina's assist as he launched the ball into Sunderland territory but thereafter there was much to admire. Torres cut inside Michael Turner and from the right edge of Sunderland's box arrowed a missile past Craig Gordon into the top corner.
The Scot did not have a prayer and were it not for a string of excellent saves Liverpool would have chalked up an even more commanding victory, as Torres struck the base of a post and Maxi Rodriguez was denied by a stunning tip over. Daniel Agger alone could have bagged an unlikely first-half hat-trick from set-pieces.
It was left to fellow defender Johnson to show him how to do it just past the half hour mark as his strike from the edge off the box came off Turner to leave Gordon stranded.
If Torres' first goal was special his second, after the break, was arguably even better as he conjured the most impudent of finishes to dink past Gordon after being fed by the buccaneering Johnson.
Winning run
For Liverpool this was an eighth successive home league win, their best run at Anfield since winning eight in a row towards the end of the 2007/08 season.
More importantly it kept Rafa Benitez's side within range of Spurs, whose win over Portsmouth on Saturday cranked up the pressure in the race for fourth.
Liverpool responded accordingly and within 55 seconds defender Agger smashed a left-footed volley straight at goalkeeper Gordon after Dirk Kuyt had flicked on Steven Gerrard's free-kick.
That the Denmark centre-back had a further two good goalscoring opportunities before half-time gave an indication of how dominant Liverpool were.
However, when it comes to goalscoring there are few to equal Torres and his third-minute strike was a piece of individual brilliance.
Goalkeeper Jose Reina picked him out wide on the left touchline and he dribbled inside Turner to curl a shot over Gordon and perfectly into the far top corner.
In what was the best 45 minutes of football in Liverpool's season, Javier Mascherano had two long-range shots, one headed clear by Kieran Richardson and the other skewed wide, while Torres was just off target with a near-post effort following intricate passing between Rodriguez and Gerrard.
Ball retention, the pace of the passes, and the general attacking intent made for an exhilarating half.
Thrilling
More chances came and went as Gerrard's run and shot in the penalty area ended in a deflection behind and Rodriguez's near-post header from his captain's corner was superbly tipped over by Gordon.
Had Liverpool been 5-0 up after 30 minutes it would not have flattered them, but they had to settle for just the two goals at the interval.
The second came from Johnson in the 32nd minute when Gerrard's inswinging corner was only cleared to the edge of the penalty area and the defender touched the ball inside on to his left foot and unleashed a shot which took a slight deflection off Turner to beat Gordon.
Torres hit a post and then bundled the rebound wide before the break as Sunderland almost imploded under the pressure.
Liverpool's biggest problem in the second half was the expectation on them to reproduce the football they had displayed before the break. While it did not reach those heights, they were hardly troubled.
Ryan Babel fired well over after Gerrard's driving run from halfway while Torres had an eight-yard shot blocked by Paulo da Silva, on at half-time for Lee Cattermole.
But the Spain international was not to be denied much longer and on the hour he scored his second goal, which was as simple as his first was brilliant.
Deft finish
Babel's far-post cross to Rodriguez dropped to Johnson who slipped a pass inside where Torres spun on the penalty spot to turn the ball past Gordon.
Alberto Aquilani replaced Kuyt with 20 minutes to go, with Torres making way for David Ngog to another standing ovation 12 minutes from time.
Richardson probably went closest to scoring for Sunderland when he flashed a left-footed shot just wide of Reina's right-hand post.
Gerrard's removal for winger Nabil El Zhar late on signalled that Benitez was more interested in saving his players for Thursday's Europa League quarter-final against Benfica in Lisbon.
What the Liverpool players must now prove in their remaining six league matches is that this performance was not a one-off.
If they can, then Benitez's guarantee of fourth place may yet hold good.
| Liverpool |
Team Statistics |
Sunderland |
| 3 |
Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 9 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 11 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 9 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 9 |
Corners |
2 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.9 |
Passing Success |
66.9 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
34 |
| 77.3 |
Tackles Success |
55.9 |
| 63.2 |
Possession |
36.8 |
| 52.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
47.9 |
|
