Liverpool Win Well At Sunderland

Liverpool have produced a clinical performance to claim a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and it could have been a bigger victory after a very one-sided affair.

A first half strike from Mohammed Sissoko, his first goal in a Liverpool shirt, broke the deadlock in an otherwise patchy first half, while Voronin finally killed off Sunderland's threat with a deserved second goal late on in the match. However, it could have been more had it not been for an impressive performance by goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

After collecting four points in their first two Premiership matches Roy Keane's side have been reminded just what a tough challenge they face in staying in the top flight with back-to-back defeats. Liverpool on the other hand will be delighted with their start to the campaign as they look to lay down their credentials as title contenders.

Liverpool went into the game without skipper Steven Gerrard, while veteran defender Sami Hyypia started at the back, but the Finns afternoon did not last as long as expected as he broke his nose in a challenge with Darryl Murphy. Hyypia was not impressed with the Sunderland player, but it did seem to be a genuine clash that ended his match despite the best attempts of the Reds medical staff.

There was later to be more injury concern for Benitez as fellow centre-back Jamie Carragher has to be withdrawn and was taken to hospital with a possible broken rib.

Despite the defensive interruptions there was little to worry Liverpool and their goalkeeper Jose Reina in the first half bar one opportunity that almost opened up for Michael Chopra, but the striker, who has started his Sunderland career well, could not get the ball under his control.

At the other end Liverpool had their new look attackers in full force as winger Ryan Babel featured along with new striker Fernando Torres and Voronin and there seems hope of an early partnership forming between the Ukrainian and Spaniard, although Babel's display was rather inconspicuous.

The opening goal came at a time when neither team were playing nice football and Liverpool were looking unsure on how they were going to break down a Sunderland side that were fully committed. However, they did find a way through with a Gerrard style effort by the player playing in Gerrad's position, but long-range efforts were certainly not known to be in Sissoko's repertoire. The midfielder thundered a low effort past Gordon, who managed to get a hand on the effort, after the ball was laid back by Voronin after Torres had failed to control a ball into the box.

Torres had a promising yet frustrating afternoon as he was denied by Gordon on at least three occasions while other opportunities went begging. The best of them all came late on in the first half as the Scottish keeper did well to keep out a diving header that perhaps should have been converted by the £20m man.

The signing from Atletico Madrid did deliver an unselfish pass to Voronin to seal the victory in the 86th minute, which was also a relief for the former Bayer Leverkusen player, who had also been denied by Gordon, again after good work from Torres.

Roy Keane may start to get concerned after a second successive convincing defeat, but his team worked so hard this afternoon and they will not face many teams as potent as Liverpool this season.