Alonso leads Reds charge

Sunderland 0 Liverpool 2

Even Mohamed Sissoko's 65th-minute dismissal and the extension of Peter Crouch's goal drought to 11 minutes short of 24 hours could not halt the Reds' charge as Sunderland slumped to an eighth successive defeat, seven of them in the league.

The game was won within 14 first-half minutes through the invention of Spanish midfielder Alonso, who first played in compatriot Luis Garcia to open the scoring on 31 minutes and then fed skipper Steven Gerrard to make it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time.