Two penalties from James Milner have helped Liverpool to a 5-1 victory over a Hull City side who played over an hour of the Premier League fixture at Anfield with 10 men.
The home side were already a goal ahead when Ahmed Elmohamady was dismissed for deliberate handball on the line, and it left the final result never in doubt as Liverpool eased to another dominant win to move into third place in the table.
Liverpool should have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute when Joel Matip sent a free header from six yards over the crossbar, but it did not take much longer for Jurgen Klopp's men to open the scoring.
After Milner played the ball inside to Philippe Coutinho, the Brazilian moved towards the box before passing to Adam Lallana, and although he did not make great contact with his shot, the ball rolled into the far bottom corner of the net.
The Merseyside outfit were running Hull ragged, and it was effectively game over for the Tigers as early as the 29th minute when Elmohamady handled the ball on the line to prevent a Coutinho shot from finding the bottom corner.
Milner stepped up to send the ball into the bottom corner, and Hull spent the final 15 minutes of the first half attempting to keep the scoreline respectable as a rampant Liverpool attack lined up to extend their advantage.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork and Georginio Wijnaldum saw a long-range strike tipped away by David Marshall but nine minutes before the break, Mane made it three with a terrific shot on the turn which found the bottom corner of the net.
Jordan Henderson curled over as the half entered added-on time but Hull returned for the restart with the sole intention of keeping the score down as Liverpool threatened to run riot in front of the Kop.
However, they stunned the home side by reducing the deficit within six minutes of the second half getting underway, as David Meyler lashed the ball into the corner from eight yards after Liverpool had failed to deal with a corner.
The two-goal margin lasted for less than 60 seconds, however, as Coutinho picked up the ball around 30 yards from goal before finding the top corner of the net with a fizzing shot from distance.
Conceding a soft goal had riled Liverpool and they had opportunities to add a fifth, with Mane seeing Marshall make a save from a low effort from the edge of the box before Wijnaldum volleyed straight at the Scottish stopper from close range.
However, with 20 minutes left, Liverpool finally extended their lead when Andrew Robertson was adjudged to have brought down Daniel Sturridge inside the penalty area and like his earlier spot kick, Milner fired low to the goalkeeper's left.
Liverpool initially pushed for a sixth but as the match drew to a close, the tempo of the match slowed down as they settled for a result which keeps them five points behind leaders Manchester City.
Darren Plant
