Liverpool 4 Stoke City 1
Liverpool: Lallana (34'), Firmino (44'), Imbula (59' OG), Sturridge (70')
Stoke: Waiters (12')
Man of the Match: Adam Lallana (Liverpool)
For half an hour, it was going so well for Manchester City managers past and present. Mark Hughes was on course to record a first league win at Anfield since hanging up his boots. The watching Pep Guardiola could have been forgiven for thinking Saturday’s opponents were distinctly mediocre.
Then Liverpool provided a reminder of why they are such a formidable proposition at Anfield. The last visitors to win there are Stoke: not on Tuesday, however, but in January and in the League Cup. The Premier League’s top scorers added four more goals, courtesy of Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino, Bruno Martins Indi – who put the ball in his own net – and Daniel Sturridge, to illustrate how potent they are.
Few teams can score four when below their best. Liverpool did. Without the injured pair of Philippe Coutinho and Joel Matip, they nevertheless extended their terrific run on Merseyside, where only Manchester United and West Ham have taken a point off them this season.
They did not click for the whole game and did not need to. They were rewarded for a devastating spell before half-time when, aided by their high-paced movement, they seemed to acquire an irresistible momentum.
Individuals excelled within the collective. Lallana has been transformed by Klopp. A footballer who used to decorate matches now decides them. Firmino has had an eventful week, being charged with drink-driving after being arrested on Christmas Eve, but he retained his place in the team and performed with his usual energy.
He had to. Liverpool were troubled for much of a first half when the absence of the towering centre-back Matip was felt as they struggled to deal with Stoke’s sizeable strikers. Joe Allen was elusive on his return to Anfield and Erik Pieters a dynamic force on the left flank, excelling in Hughes’ lopsided but initially effective 3-5-2 formation.
Stoke signalled their approach by benching the flair players Bojan Krkic and Xherdan Shaqiri and picking the more physical Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters. Prioritising the aerial route soon paid dividends. Pieters did well to whip in a cross. Walters climbed above Dejan Lovren at the near post to direct a header that beat Simon Mignolet. It was the first time the Belgian conceded since displacing Loris Karius in the Liverpool goal. The scorer, a boyhood Everton fan, savoured the chance to celebrate at Anfield.
One could have become two. Allen has been reinvented as a goalscoring midfielder since leaving Liverpool in the summer. He almost marked his first return with a sixth of the season, Mignolet clawing a low shot away. It proved a crucial save.
Crouch had been selected to score goals. He actually saved one, materialising on his own line to clear Firmino’s low drive but it only delayed Liverpool’s leveller. Sadio Mane centred, Lallana played a one-two off the unwitting Glen Johnson and took aim from an acute angle, shooting through goalkeeper Lee Grant’s legs.
Lallana’s growing influence was reflected when he centred for Firmino to lift a shot into the Kop. The Englishman’s excellence proved infectious. When James Milner found Firmino, the Brazilian ended his longest drought of the season, his shot going in via both posts.
Struggling earlier, Liverpool were rampant. Mane was waiting to turn in Divock Origi’s low cross. Instead defender Martins Indi applied the final touch. Then Sturridge, a catalytic substitute in the Merseyside derby, struck 56 seconds after his arrival.
It is revealing that Liverpool can top the division’s scoring charts without a goal from their best finisher. Sturridge’s belated first in the division since April came when he intercepted Ryan Shawcross’ poor back pass. An evening that began badly for Liverpool ended superbly.
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