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
