Liverpool vs. Stoke City

Fernando Torres gave the Reds the early lead when he stroked in Steven Gerrard's cross from 10 yards and Glen Johnson then scored his first goal for the club with an acrobatic finish just before the interval.

Gerrard produced a wonderful piece of magic on the right to find Dirk Kuyt who poked in for 3-0 before substitute David Ngog nodded in in injury time.

Gerrard, who gave another powerhouse display, pulled a low ball back from the right which found Torres arriving to timetable - the Spaniard sidefooted his effort past keeper Thomas Sorensen.

Emiliano Insua should have made it 2-0 when Torres' cross eluded the head of Kuyt and found the full-back who positioned himself well at the far post but failed to get a good connection on the ball.

A lull in play followed largely because Stoke began to read Liverpool's attacking tactics all too easily, and it seemed that Tony Pulis' side would go into the break with the moral half-time victory.

But the visitors should have realised that the Reds under manager Rafa Benitez are anything but predictable.

With seconds remaining, Liverpool won a corner on the right which Gerrard delivered on to the head of Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman's header was parried by Sorensen but only to Johnson who improvised instinctively.

Liverpool found more space after the break as Stoke realised the containing game would not win them any points.

The visitors' change in intentions led to their first shot on goal when Rory Delap forced a smart save from the largely-redundant Pepe Reina.

But from that point onwards it was all Reds traffic.A run into the area from Johnson ended with Sorensen having to save low from the attack-minded wing-back.

Kuyt had a better chance to add to the tally when he got his feet in a mess after Sorensen palmed Gerrard's drive to the forward.

And Kuyt's persistence in the final third paid dividends when Gerrard's magical turn on the far right finished with the ball arriving at the feet of the Dutchman who made no mistake and tapped in.

And with almost the last touch of the game, substitute Ngog made the most of Sorensen's inability to deal with a deflected cross to head in under the bar.