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Things will balance out by New years, a point seperates the top 5 except Arsenal leading by 3 .
GERRARD INSPIRES EMPHATIC WIN
Anyone who questioned how Steven Gerrard would respond to the disappointment of England's Euro 2008 exit should have known better.
The skipper's sixth goal in seven games set Liverpool on their way to a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win in Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime.
His first-half thunderbolt was as good as anything we've seen from the number eight in recent years.
Add to that two assists for Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel in the second half, and you've got yourself an emphatic full stop on a week Gerrard and many of his club colleagues would rather forget.
The result was rarely in doubt. Liverpool dominated possession from start to finish. It was almost as if they were playing at home, with the hosts resorting to the kind of counter-attacking football we're used to seeing from the likes of Birmingham and Portsmouth at Anfield.
The game's first real opportunity came on eight minutes when Fernando Torres was fouled on the edge of the box. It was the same spot from which Gerrard bulged the net against Arsenal a few weeks ago but, though he hit the target, the skipper's effort never seriously troubled Shay Given's goal.
Minutes later Torres skipped past a defender as he does, only to be thwarted by a last-gasp tackle from Habib Beye.
Gerrard gave another indication of what was to come when he stung Given's hands on 20 minutes after cutting inside and launching a fierce effort from 30 yards. Inspired, Carragher tried his luck from distance. The outcome was predictable.
Then came the opener. We've seen some special goals from men in red this season, and many of them from the captain, but Gerrard's 27th minute free-kick was a match for any of them. The ball was rolled sideways by the impressive Lucas, who was making his first league start since arriving from Gremio in the summer. Then, smack. Given needn't have bothered moving.
You'd think the goal would rouse Sam Allardyce's men, but no. The increasingly restless Toon Army had to wait 37 minutes for a decent attempt at Pepe Reina's goal. Alan Smith was the protagonist with a driving volley which went narrowly wide.
Torres should then have made it 2-0 to the visitors when Given went AWOL, but, confronted with an open goal 25 yards out, the Spaniard hit the post.
Replays showed the Newcastle stopper deserved to see red for handling outside the box seconds earlier, yet there were still 22 men on the pitch as the second half got underway.
Unfortunately for the majority of St James's Park, 11 of them had their heads in their hands within a minute. Gerrard's corner was nothing to write home about, but a lack of any sort of marking allowed Sami Hyypia to flick on before Kuyt shinned home his third league goal of the campaign.
Torres hit narrowly wide on 60 minutes after more calamitous defending, and the Spanish hitman wriggled his way into another goalscoring position shortly after. This time he was denied by the feet of Given.
Rafa Benitez swapped Harry Kewell for Babel on 58 minutes, and it was the Dutchman who made it game, set and match by finishing a superb 17-pass move in which Gerrard was again instrumental.
All that was missing was a Torres goal. It wasn't for want of trying: three times he found himself through after Liverpool's third, but it just wasn't his day.
Kuyt could have bagged his second before making way for John Arne Riise with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Benitez shuffled his pack once more on 80 minutes by introducing Peter Crouch. The departing Gerrard was roundly booed by the home faithful. You'd think they'd have better things to worry about after their side's abject display.
As for Liverpool, it's now 13 league games unbeaten this season - something the Merseysiders have not achieved since 1990-91.
GERRARD INSPIRES EMPHATIC WIN
Anyone who questioned how Steven Gerrard would respond to the disappointment of England's Euro 2008 exit should have known better.
The skipper's sixth goal in seven games set Liverpool on their way to a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win in Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime.
His first-half thunderbolt was as good as anything we've seen from the number eight in recent years.
Add to that two assists for Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel in the second half, and you've got yourself an emphatic full stop on a week Gerrard and many of his club colleagues would rather forget.
The result was rarely in doubt. Liverpool dominated possession from start to finish. It was almost as if they were playing at home, with the hosts resorting to the kind of counter-attacking football we're used to seeing from the likes of Birmingham and Portsmouth at Anfield.
The game's first real opportunity came on eight minutes when Fernando Torres was fouled on the edge of the box. It was the same spot from which Gerrard bulged the net against Arsenal a few weeks ago but, though he hit the target, the skipper's effort never seriously troubled Shay Given's goal.
Minutes later Torres skipped past a defender as he does, only to be thwarted by a last-gasp tackle from Habib Beye.
Gerrard gave another indication of what was to come when he stung Given's hands on 20 minutes after cutting inside and launching a fierce effort from 30 yards. Inspired, Carragher tried his luck from distance. The outcome was predictable.
Then came the opener. We've seen some special goals from men in red this season, and many of them from the captain, but Gerrard's 27th minute free-kick was a match for any of them. The ball was rolled sideways by the impressive Lucas, who was making his first league start since arriving from Gremio in the summer. Then, smack. Given needn't have bothered moving.
You'd think the goal would rouse Sam Allardyce's men, but no. The increasingly restless Toon Army had to wait 37 minutes for a decent attempt at Pepe Reina's goal. Alan Smith was the protagonist with a driving volley which went narrowly wide.
Torres should then have made it 2-0 to the visitors when Given went AWOL, but, confronted with an open goal 25 yards out, the Spaniard hit the post.
Replays showed the Newcastle stopper deserved to see red for handling outside the box seconds earlier, yet there were still 22 men on the pitch as the second half got underway.
Unfortunately for the majority of St James's Park, 11 of them had their heads in their hands within a minute. Gerrard's corner was nothing to write home about, but a lack of any sort of marking allowed Sami Hyypia to flick on before Kuyt shinned home his third league goal of the campaign.
Torres hit narrowly wide on 60 minutes after more calamitous defending, and the Spanish hitman wriggled his way into another goalscoring position shortly after. This time he was denied by the feet of Given.
Rafa Benitez swapped Harry Kewell for Babel on 58 minutes, and it was the Dutchman who made it game, set and match by finishing a superb 17-pass move in which Gerrard was again instrumental.
All that was missing was a Torres goal. It wasn't for want of trying: three times he found himself through after Liverpool's third, but it just wasn't his day.
Kuyt could have bagged his second before making way for John Arne Riise with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Benitez shuffled his pack once more on 80 minutes by introducing Peter Crouch. The departing Gerrard was roundly booed by the home faithful. You'd think they'd have better things to worry about after their side's abject display.
As for Liverpool, it's now 13 league games unbeaten this season - something the Merseysiders have not achieved since 1990-91.
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