Reds revive Euro plans

Liverpool closed the gap on their European rivals as they swept Sunderland aside 3-0 at Anfield.

Liverpool move to within a point of Everton

Liverpool closed the gap on their European rivals as they swept Sunderland aside 3-0 at Anfield. Goals from Peter Crouch, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard handed Liverpool their first Premier League win of 2008 and moved the Reds to within one point of their Merseyside rivals Everton, who drew with Blackburn earlier on Saturday, in fourth place. The first-half had been a lacklustre affair, but on 56 minutes Peter Crouch marked his 300th career appearance to climb above the Sunderland defence and head in a Jamie Carragher cross. Thirteen minutes later Torres doubled the lead as he latched on to a Crouch flick-on to out pace Phil Bardsley and fire in his 12th league goal of the season. Gerrard then made sure of the points as he converted from the penalty spot in the 89th minute after Nyron Nosworthy had brought down Jermaine Pennant inside the 18-yard area. Under-pressure Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's response to the 1-0 midweek defeat at West Ham was to leave out Steve Finnan, Yossi Benayoun, Xabi Alonso, Harry Kewell and Dirk Kuyt.

Lacklustre start

Crouch came in up front, Carragher moved to the right to allow centre-back Martin Skrtel to slot in, while Lucas Leiva, Pennant and Javier Mascherano all returned. Sunderland, who have not won at Anfield since 1983, were missing Dwight Yorke (knee) and Anthony Stokes from the side that beat Birmingham last time out as Michael Chopra returned from suspension and Kieran Richardson came back from injury. But Richardson's suspect hamstring lasted just seven minutes before he was replaced by striker Rada Prica, with Daryl Murphy moving to the left of midfield. Gerrard saw two long-range efforts charged down but that was as close as anyone got in the opening exchanges. Sunderland's determined defending kept Liverpool at bay and Nosworthy, despite a height disadvantage, did a solid job against Crouch. Lucas was asked to play on the left for Liverpool with marginal success as Bardsley and Chopra were an effective pairing down that flank and Sunderland's confidence grew with every attack they broke down.

Last-ditch block

Liverpool finally created a chance a minute from the break as Lucas' flick picked out Torres in the box for a shooting chance, but Jonny Evans produced a fine last-ditch block to prevent the Spaniard from shooting at Craig Gordon's goal. The Reds replaced Fabio Aurelio with Finnan at half-time while, 10 minutes after the interval, Sunderland sent on Roy O'Donovan in place of the unimpressive Prica to bolster the midfield. However, two minutes later Liverpool finally got themselves ahead as Carragher charged down the right and lifted a cross to the edge of the six-yard box where Crouch rose to head down and wide of Gordon's dive. The goal lifted the hosts and Torres brought down a through-ball and flashed in a drive Gordon did well to push into the Kop. After 63 minutes Crouch saw a spectacular bicycle kick well blocked by Gordon, with Gerrard's follow-up deflected wide, and from the resulting corner Crouch's towering header was cleared off the line by Dean Whitehead. Six minutes later the second goal came when Torres surged on to a Crouch flick-on and hammered a right-foot shot past Gordon.

Penalty shout

Sunderland were unfortunate not to get a penalty in the 73rd minute when Carragher threw himself at a Murphy shot and the ball struck his arm but referee Styles did nothing. Evans had a header blocked by Reds goalkeeper Jose Reina as Sunderland continued to power forward. But two minutes from time Liverpool were awarded a penalty for a Nosworthy challenge on Pennant. Gordon was booked for dissent before Gerrard scored from the spot with the Scotland goalkeeper almost keeping the ball out.

Liverpool	Team Statistics	Sunderland
3	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	2
4	Shots off Target	3
6	Blocked Shots	2
4	Corners	1
8	Fouls	10
0	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
72.9	Passing Success	63
14	Tackles	29
85.7	Tackles Success	93.1
60.8	Possession	39.2
57	Territorial Advantage	43