LAZAR MARKOVIC SCORED the only goal as improving Liverpool provisionally closed to within four points of the Premier League’s top four by winning 1-0 at Sunderland on Saturday.
At a gusty Stadium of Light, the 20-year-old Serbia winger’s ninth-minute strike — his first Premier League goal — enabled Liverpool to extend their unbeaten run to five league games.
Gus Poyet’s Sunderland, who had Liam Bridcutt sent off for two bookable offences, remain three points above the relegation zone with only one win from their last 11 games.
Advertisement
Having earlier seen a penalty appeal waved away after tumbling under a challenge from Wes Brown, Markovic put Liverpool ahead when he gathered a pass from Fabio Borini and prodded the ball between Costel Pantilimon’s legs.
Markovic then hit the bar with a spectacular, improvised scissors kick as Liverpool dominated, while former Sunderland loanee Borini rounded Pantilimon, only to find the side-netting.
The visitors lost Steven Gerrard at half-time, with Dejan Lovren coming on, but their position was strengthened in the 49th minute when Bridcutt was shown a second yellow card for impeding Emre Can.
Moments later, Adam Johnson left the Liverpool crossbar shuddering with a swerving drive from distance, but Brendan Rodgers’s side finished strongly, with Pantilimon saving from Mario Balotelli and Philippe Coutinho.
Co-leaders Chelsea and Manchester City are both in action later on Saturday, with Chelsea hosting managerless Newcastle United and City visiting out-of-form Everton.
The two pace-setters were left dead-level on points, goal difference, goals scored and goals conceded after the New Year’s Day fixtures.
Tottenham Hotspur can move into the top four if they win at Crystal Palace, with third-place Manchester United and fourth-place Southampton facing off at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Funny how two known United trolls are commenting on a Liverpool thread before they would comment on a United thread….. Says a lot about the two really.
They are deluded if they think they are not Liverpool obsessed.
Yeah but the United trolls don’t want to make any points beyond saying Rodgers is clueless and Liverpool fans are deluded when they are the most deluded of all….
Sure a month ago every second United fan was saying they could win the league….. That’s the most deluded thing I’ve ever heard.
At least Graham Kavanagh was man enough to keep the same name , Hence knowing he’d get stick about last year. Most of you guys post under different names every few weeks
Hey, I have no problem with taking the stick, as long as its all in good jest, I am fine…. Some take it to a new level….personally, I think Pool and Man U fans have nothing to brag about right now….. Mickey mouse clubs with rich owners are wiping the floor with us….
The new signings were judged too quickly considering a lot of them are only around twenty year’s of age ( Moreno, Can, Markovic) Lallana was starting to hit form also until he got his injury.
I agree they slipped up there, didn’t even deserve a point against Leicester I felt. Encouraging to see signs of form though with players to come into the team.
They would have if they didn’t throw away a 2 goal lead against Leicester. It’s great that they have the points in the bag and will definitely make up some points against some of the teams ahead of them.
Now they need a loss for arsenal and spurs and a draw between Southampton and United.
Lol all the deluded comments from pool fans dreaming of top 4 . Your scrapping points off teams that are fighting relegation and you think that top 4 form ??? . The bigger teams will expose you again and again
Another 3 points. Beat what’s in front of ya is what they say. Tipping away , all the more sweeter is no Sterling or Sturridge and only half a game from the captain and a clean sheet. A goal from Markovic will do his belief no harm at all and help him settle. Ya the Leicester result was a balls but look there is not one team with rock solid form this season (City 2-2 Burnley) and it should have been more. Villa next week will be very tough but you’d never know. Results tomorrow should be interesting.
Van der Flier shows his class with leading role in Harlequins demolition job
9 mins ago
Chasing Sam
Murphy the key factor to decide if history rhymes for McGuinness and Donegal
Micheál Clifford
54 mins ago
0
As it happened
La Rochelle v Munster, Champions Cup Round of 16
15 hrs ago
97
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 164 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 111 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 146 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 116 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 136 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 76 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 47 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 93 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 100 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 55 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 91 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
ah been waiting for that headline pun since the season started
Funny how two known United trolls are commenting on a Liverpool thread before they would comment on a United thread….. Says a lot about the two really.
They are deluded if they think they are not Liverpool obsessed.
Legend has it Bravo once viewed a Man U thread
Again, about 70% of my comment is removed….
The rest said, relax guys, we all troll the other team, just keep it humourous….
Yeah but the United trolls don’t want to make any points beyond saying Rodgers is clueless and Liverpool fans are deluded when they are the most deluded of all….
Sure a month ago every second United fan was saying they could win the league….. That’s the most deluded thing I’ve ever heard.
Exactly Graham id have said the same about you last year
Stalker where are all these UTD fans your talking about , I think there in your head pal , now who’s delusional and obsessed
At least Graham Kavanagh was man enough to keep the same name , Hence knowing he’d get stick about last year. Most of you guys post under different names every few weeks
And me and me !!!!!!!
You forget yourself Baz….. So that’s what it’s about, last season.
Was United having a bad season what turned you into a deranged anti Liverpool troll?
Well on behalf of all Liverpool fans please except my apology, I think you’ve suffered enough….. But you need to let go as well and grow up
Hey, I have no problem with taking the stick, as long as its all in good jest, I am fine…. Some take it to a new level….personally, I think Pool and Man U fans have nothing to brag about right now….. Mickey mouse clubs with rich owners are wiping the floor with us….
The new signings were judged too quickly considering a lot of them are only around twenty year’s of age ( Moreno, Can, Markovic) Lallana was starting to hit form also until he got his injury.
I agree they slipped up there, didn’t even deserve a point against Leicester I felt. Encouraging to see signs of form though with players to come into the team.
Bit of a mis leading headline considering they are now 4 points off top 4 having played a game extra.
Considering the ground that city have made up on Chelsea the gap between them and top 4 isn’t much.
They have momentum though.
They would have if they didn’t throw away a 2 goal lead against Leicester. It’s great that they have the points in the bag and will definitely make up some points against some of the teams ahead of them.
Now they need a loss for arsenal and spurs and a draw between Southampton and United.
Momentum? Rodgers couldn’t get any momentum going if he fell off a bridge !
I wondered when the United trolls would turn up. Would you not give the stupid trolling a rest for a day.
Provisionally: for the time being or subject to change.
Lol all the deluded comments from pool fans dreaming of top 4 . Your scrapping points off teams that are fighting relegation and you think that top 4 form ??? . The bigger teams will expose you again and again
Deluded? Still going to win the league Johnnie? Not this decade, Fergie’s gone.
No luke we are realistic about our chances of the league and know that with the right one or two players added we will be fighting for it next year.
Not a chance. Chelsea and city way stronger. I think Man U will get 3/4 place for the next few years.
So so deluded…..
Your talking about liverpool scratching points have you actually seen any of United’s recent games.
Three points from stoke,villa and spurs and Liverpool are scraping points. Another intelligent united fan on a Liverpool thread .
Another 3 points. Beat what’s in front of ya is what they say. Tipping away , all the more sweeter is no Sterling or Sturridge and only half a game from the captain and a clean sheet. A goal from Markovic will do his belief no harm at all and help him settle. Ya the Leicester result was a balls but look there is not one team with rock solid form this season (City 2-2 Burnley) and it should have been more. Villa next week will be very tough but you’d never know. Results tomorrow should be interesting.
Children.
Yesssssss next year will be out year !
Get used to saying that
Hook line and sinker again …. Every time …
Every united fan says that when THEIR CAUGHT OUT.
Lazar guided, on the Mark, they guy is destined for greatness.