Reds smash five past Swansea

Liverpool returned to form in style yesterday, storming to an emphatic 5-0 victory over Swansea City at Anfield. Goals from debutant Philippe Coutinho, Jose Enrique and Luis Suarez were bookended by converted spot kicks from Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, as Brendan Rodgers' side put their boss' former employers to the sword and arguably demonstrated that they have moved on from disappointing midweek defeats to West Brom and Zenit St Petersburg.

Registering a phenomenal 35 shots on goal, the Reds were absolutely dominant from the first whistle to the last, and thoroughly deserved what was a convincing win. Boosted by the return of Daniel Sturridge, who has been sorely missed, and the debut of former Inter Milan play-maker Coutinho, Liverpool started strongly.

Involved from the off, Coutinho glided past a couple of challenges early on before driving goalwards, while Downing struck wide of Vorm's goal on several occasions. Moreover, Suarez beat Vorm with a wonderfully lobbed volley from range but couldn't break the deadlock as the ball landed on the roof of the net. Meanwhile, Swansea's single sight of goal came when Lamah's strike from a corner hit Johnson near his arm, with Howard Webb thankfully ignoring the Welsh side's appeals for a spot kick.

The often derided official was surprisingly generous to Liverpool throughout the course of the match, although he did deny the home side a penalty after Sturridge was tripped in the box. To increase Kopites' frustration, Coutinho side-footed the loose ball wide. Liverpool didn't have to wait too long to gain the lead their play deserved, however, as Webb pointed to the spot on the half hour mark after Suarez had been felled. Atoning for his miss against West Brom, Gerrard fired into the bottom left corner.

Gerrard made no mistake this time from the penalty spot

Sturridge nearly doubled their advantage soon after, seeing his dinked effort drift away from goal before shooting straight at Vorm from a narrow angle. 

Heading into the half time interval, Rodgers would have been pleased with his players' performance, although the fact that 21 shots had yielded only one goal may have worried him. With Swansea's renowned attacking ability, further goals were essential, not only to ensure that three points were secured, but also to restore confidence after some disruptive defeats and to give the Anfield faithful some joy and a reason to believe that the season isn't over just yet.

Fortunately, Coutinho opened the floodgates barely seconds into the second half. He burst clear of Swansea's defence and slotted past Vorm to cap a promising debut that provided ample evidence of his ability and encouraging signs of another useful weapon being added to Liverpool's attack. 

Coutinho doubles Liverpool's lead

Coutinho's cheeky back heel almost made it three, before Enrique and Sturridge combined to devastating effect on the edge of the area, the former smashing past Vorm to bag a rare goal for himself and a third for his increasingly confident team, who had entered into exhibition mode. 

After Agger rose highest and nodded over Gerrard's corner, Luis Suarez inevitably joined in with the goalscoring free-for-all, netting his 18th League goal of the campaign by firing into the corner of the net after evading a challenge. 

His strike partner Sturridge, who has added another dimension to the Reds' attack and enhanced Suarez's performances, also added his name to the score sheet. In between a shot that was saved and a shot that struck the crossbar, Sturridge fired into the top corner from the penalty spot following Wayne Routledge's handball. 

A season-ending shoulder injury to Fabio Borini, who has struggled with poor form and misfortune already at Anfield, while both teams ran down the clock was the only disappointment from the afternoon. 

Borini yells in pain after landing awkwardly on his shoulder

Apart from that, it was an afternoon of unexpected but beneficial events. Howard Webb awarded Liverpool two penalties, one of which was given for a foul on Suarez. The Reds actually converted those spot kicks, as well as three of their countless other chances. Most importantly, Liverpool finally beat a team in the top ten!

Nonetheless, defeating a depleted Swansea side evidently with more than one eye on their Capital One Cup final next weekend shouldn't be too surprising or a cause for undue celebration and optimism. Yes, it's nice to return to winning ways and bag a hatful of goals, but the real test of this squad's ability is coming up in the next few weeks in the form of crucial matches against Zenit and Spurs.

The outcomes of those contests will provide more information on the direction Rodgers' side are heading in than this Sunday afternoon stroll.

YNWA