A goal either side of half time saw Liverpool take away maximum points from Sunderland's Stadium of Light as they won 2-0.
Liverpool ease to victory, eventually
A goal either side of half time saw Liverpool take away maximum points from Sunderland's Stadium of Light as they won 2-0.
Mohamed Sissoko's 37th minute strike put the visitors ahead before Andrei Voronin added the second in the 87th minute.
Sissoko's opener came following a set up by Voronin as he made no mistakes with a powerful shot from long range that was just out of reach of Black Cats' keeper Craig Gordon.
The second came from the Ukraine forward after strike partner Fernando Torres picked him out and he powered the ball past Gordon.
Sunderland had several opportunities to get on the scoresheet, most notably in the second half when subsitute Anthony Stokes controlled the ball down in the 77th minute and got a good shot in, but the ball just fell wide.
Class apart
If the team sheet was heavily weighted towards Liverpool in terms of quality, that determination Roy Keane has instilled in his side kept them in with a chance up to Voronin's strike.
But it might have been very different if Voronin had properly capitalised on a dreadful error by home left-back Greg Halford with just 25 seconds on the clock.
Voronin pounced on Halford's short back-pass and struck a low shot which squeezed under the impressive Gordon but wriggled agonisingly wide of target.
Xabi Alonso screwed a rising shot just wide in the 14th minute after Ryan Babel had cleverly laid off a Steve Finnan right-wing cross, but the expected succession of chances did not materialise.
Once again Paul McShane and Nyron Nosworthy held firm in the centre of the home defence, marshalled superbly by captain Dwight Yorke, and frustration slowly grew among the visitors.
That frustration should have increased in the 24th minute when substitute Anthony Stokes, on for Richardson, had a superb chance to give his side a shock lead.
Stokes was played clear by Michael Chopra into the right side of the Liverpool box and hit his shot under the advancing Jose Reina, only for Daniel Agger to clear from the edge of the six-yard box.
Despite the visitors still failing to carve out too many clear-cut chances there was a feeling the home side had missed their opportunity and that was underlined in the 37th minute.
The lively Voronin laid the ball back to Sissoko on the edge of the box and the Mali international drilled a low right-foot shot past Gordon into the corner of the net.
With the visitors finishing the first half strongly, McShane needed a big interception to prevent Torres getting in a clear header, then Gordon grasped another effort by the Spaniard on the line.
Gordon the Great
The second goal seemed a matter of time early in the second half as Liverpool resumed their dominance and Alonso played in Torres who was denied by the impressive Gordon.
But Liverpool's frontline oozed class and Gordon was required again in the 79th minute to produce a point-blank save to deny Voronin in front of goal.
Finally Voronin extinguished those lingering Stadium of Light dreams with three minutes to go with a clinical finish to wrap up a productive afternoon for Rafa Benitez.
