Reds dispatch Magpies
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (R) celebrates his stunning goal against Newcastle in their Premiership encounter at St James' Park on Saturday.Photo: AFP
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League after a 3-0 victory at Newcastle, whose manager Sam Allardyce is under increasing pressure after his team offered little resistance on the way to another alarming setback.
Newcastle, who have picked up only one point in four matches, were embarrassed as Liverpool totally dominated Saturday's game and provided the perfect pick-me-up for their skipper Steven Gerrard in the wake of England's failure to qualify for the European Championships.
It certainly appeared that Gerrard had something to prove as he produced a magnificent midfield show packed with energy, drive and a contribution to all three goals.
Gerrard scored the first from long-range and was involved as Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel added more goals but even that didn't fully reflect Liverpool's overwhelming superiority.
Newcastle were given little assistance, however, from a large section of their fans who were clearly disenchanted by Gerrard's performance in England's defeat by Croatia in midweek.
But their willingness to boo Gerrard every time he touched the ball was harsh and always in danger of being counter-productive.
Certainly, nothing was more likely to fire up Gerrard than the undeserved jeers of supporters who eventually decided that the feeble display by their own players was more worthy of criticism.
The turning point came in the 27th minute when Fernando Torres was fouled by Emre 30 yards from goal, offering Gerrard the chance to drill a marvellous shot into the top corner after the ball was touched to him by Lucas Leiva, the Brazilian who was making a rare appearance for Liverpool.
Gerrard had already fired a warning shot that reflected the initial control of Liverpool when his 22nd minute effort from just outside the area was clutched by keeper Shay Given.
Newcastle, deprived of six experienced defenders because of injuries, compensated by playing Geremi and Charles N'Zogbia as wing-backs, although the presence of Harry Kewell prevented Geremi making any attacking impact.
So it was 38 minutes before Allardyce's team made any inroads when a shot from Alan Smith went across the face of Pepe Reina's goal.
And Liverpool should have stretched their lead in the closing moments of the half as Torres went agonisingly close to his ninth goal of the season twice in quick succession.
Given raced from his goal to chest away the initial shot of the Spaniard after he accelerated on to Dirk Kuyt's through ball.
Given and two defenders were unable to tidy up the loose ball before the keeper panicked and presented it to Torres, who faced a vacant goal, but could only steer his 20-yard shot against the post.
It was an escape for Newcastle, but the game was put beyond their reach within 56 seconds of the restart, although goal scorer Kuyt knew little about it as Gerrard's corner was touched on by Sami Hyypia and rebounded past Given off the striker's shins.
Liverpool sensed that Newcastle would not have the resources to recover from a two-goal deficit and thoroughly enjoyed second-half supremacy that could have brought them half-a-dozen goals with more accurate finishing.
Torres, of all people, was the biggest culprit as he twice shot wide and saw another attempt saved by Given.
Liverpool did create another goal to give the scoreline a more realistic look.
It came in the 66th minute and Gerrard was again heavily involved as he exchanged passes with Ryan Babel before the substitute finished stylishly.
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