Liverpool made easy work of Sunderland in a game of domination in Anfield.
Fernando Torres started the scoring in the 2nd minute with a sublime finish before Johnson and Torres again ensured the reds gained all three points and moved back in to 5th.
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Steven Gerrard moved back to central midfield, partnering Javier Mascherano with Kuyt operating behind Torres.
Liverpool dominated throughout the game, and within a minute a free kick from Gerrard had found Agger who fired straight at the keeper. In the following minute the reds scored. Pepe Reina found Torres who powered in to the box before dodging the attention of two Sunderland defenders to lift a perfectly weighted shot over Craig Gordon.
It was a fantastic goal from one of the world’s best players.
Chance after chance fell Liverpool’s way throughout the first half with Pepe Reina watching on a spectator.
Mascherano was having a couple of shots and even Agger seemed to be back to his brazen best – powering out of defence and having a couple of chances of his own
Glen Johnson was a potent attacking threat – in a way that we haven’t seen since he returned from injury.
The ball arrived at his feet, he turned inside, before unleashing a left footed shot which took a minor deflection on it’s already goalbound path, to make it 2-0 to the reds.
Liverpool went in at the break possibly wondering how it was only 2.
The second half was more of a procession.
A couple of fast paced Liverpool breaks saw a last ditch tackle as Torres fired goalbounds, and Ryan Babel in a great position shot narrowly over.
The third goal arrived in the 60th minute. Johnson involved again and Torres had all the time in the world before eventually deciding to flick the ball over the keeper.
Torres, Gerrard and Kuyt all made way to substitutes as the reds turned their focus to Thursday’s game in Portugal.
All in, this was the reds third decent performance at home in the last two weeks, 3 games that have seen the reds score ten times. It is also Liverpool’s 8th straight home league win.
Carragher capped his 620th appearance (equalling Alan Hansen) with a clean sheet. If the reds can transfer their Anfield performances away from home then the race for 4th could still see many twists and turns.
Our Man of the Match: Fernando Torres
Post Match Comments
Rafa Benitez
“He (Maxi Rodriguez) is a very good signing for the team
“He has game intelligence and can keep the ball. He can play in three different positions and works very hard. He is very positive in his approach. I am really pleased with him and he has been good for the team.
“Maxi can be a big difference. If you get clever movement from him, it can help us.”
(On Torres)
“The first was one of his best, but I also liked the second one. He was calm and sometimes it is not just about a good strike, but also about doing the right thing at the right moment. Both goals were good.
“If he can stay fit, he is very important. It is important to have different options when you play two games a week. You can then change the tactics and the system, but also keep the tempo.
“It is important to have players like Fernando, Gerrard and Maxi available.
“Today we started with a really high tempo and passed the ball well. We scored an early goal which can always help. We continued pushing and created a lot of chances.
“I was trying to protect players after the third goal because we know we have to play against Benfica and early against Birmingham, so if we can manage and avoid injuries and problems, you can carry on playing the same way with the same tactics.
“At this moment the main thing for us is to play well. If we do this, we will be closer to the top four and hopefully we will be closer to the final of the Europa league. That is the best way for us to move forward.”
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get a nil nil, thats all we need, game on at anfield we owe them for them beating us 3-0 nil on agg, in the chapions league, simao was playing for them and he bent a ball around carragher! we need to shaut them down at their dump, them bring them home and let rafa’s reds steam em at our home. come on liverpool.
reina
johnson carragher greek agger
aquilani mascherano lucus benayoun
gerrard torres
this win is very important us l’pool cuz it will boost our morale against Benefica on the 1st. I hope for a better results against them. Torres will score against Benefica.
great day yesterday, i was in my seat in anny road and its just gets worse! the weather was great, torres was great, the pre match pub was great, my compnay sitting next to me was great, however, a messeage to all reds fans.
PLEASE SING, SOME OF YOU IN OUR BLOCK ER – MOST OF YOU ARE LIKE WAX WORK FIGURES! YOU GO TO THE MATCH TO CHANT AND GET UP FOR THE GAME, AND SHOUT THE LADS ON! BUT NO – ALOT OF YOU DO SWEET FA,,,,, WHY COME TO THE MATCH IF YOU WANT TO BE STILL, DONT GO LET DECENT FANS GO AND TAKE THE SEATS, WE NEED HARD CORE LFC FANS AT THE MOMENT, WE DONT WONT PICTURE TAKERS OR TOSSERS SITTING THEIR PLAYING WITH THEIR SUNGLASSES, DO NOT COME, YOU ARE NOT WANTED, WE WANT SINGERS AND PEOPLE WHO DIE FOR THE CLUB, YANKS OUT, GET OUT
While i agree that anfield was and has been more silent this season you cannot distinguish who is a true fan and who is fake ! I mean it’s hard ! Are you going to oust fans on there first visit who take pictures ? cum on lad even i still take pictures and iv been going for 21 years.
I was in main stand yesterday and your rite it really is quiet at times and trying to out-sing all the Sunderland fans rendition of ‘shall we sing a song for you’ is really hard on your own.
But we can’t all be mad passionate for every game going and with everything thats happened this season u can understand a subdued crowd now and again ‘ Even the Kop was unusually silent yesterday’
But im with you on Ousting the YANK SCUM ! OUT OUT OUT…..YNWA
A thoroughly enjoyable victory not only for what we achieved but the way we achieved it. The tempo, one touch passing, individual skill and overal team possesion and awareness were fantastic! Let’s forget the missed oppurtunities that could have made it 10-0! Today’s package was sublime, if we produce more of the same we could end this season on a very positive note both in the league and in Europe. After a fantastic season last year this one has, on the whole, been a forgetable season with 10 losses compared to 2 last year! Let’s beleive and achieve!
Come on you Reds YNWA
We played some great football today ripping them apart at will,why can’t we play like that more often letting the opposition worry about us??.Great to see the second goal deflected into the net gaining some revenge for that infamous beachball incident,now they know how we felt!!.Never a Lucas fan was glad to see him absent,Babel played well apart for his usual bumping into defenders instead of an early killer pass.Still feel he could develope into a fine player so wouldn’t be upset to see him hang around for a few seasons.
Fernando “Superman” Torres was at his usual clinical best and could have had a few more where as Gerard looked in the groove too!.Would be delighted if we finsihed fourth but Spurs are still favourites for that spot.
torres was magnificent what a striker need two like him. everyone put in a solid team game. best match we played this season. keep the momentum going even on the away games