Barclays Premier League

Reds cruise to Wearside win

Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez fired Liverpool to a 2-0 victory at Sunderland as the Reds made amends for their beachball disaster on Wearside last season.

• Bruce disappointed with penalty award
• Blog: Frustration at the SoL

Kuyt set the visitors on their way with 33 minutes gone when he converted a hotly-disputed penalty, and Suarez completed the job with 13 minutes remaining.

But the Black Cats trudged off the pitch on the final whistle hugely aggrieved at the penalty decision with defender John Mensah, who was later shown a straight red card for a professional foul on Suarez, appearing to trip Jay Spearing outside the box.

However, while they may have had reason to feel hard done by, Steve Bruce's men were rarely a threat despite enjoying the greater share of possession, and Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina did not have a save worthy of note to make until he plucked substitute Lee Cattermole's long-range effort out of the air four minutes from time.

Liverpool were much more effective despite £35million man Andy Carroll enduring a quiet afternoon on his full league debut for the club, and home goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had to pull off good saves from Kuyt, Suarez and Spearing to keep the scoreline respectable in front of a sell-out crowd of 47,207.

Sunderland went into the game having ended a run of four consecutive league defeats with a hard-earned point at Arsenal a fortnight ago, and with Danny Welbeck back in the starting line-up and skipper Cattermole on the bench after injury, there was genuine optimism on Wearside for a repeat of last season's victory over the Reds.

That day, of course, they enjoyed the most outrageous slice of good fortune when Darren Bent's shot found its way into the back of the net with the help of a deflection off a beachball.

This time around, they had plenty of luck, but all of it bad.

By the time 22 minutes had elapsed, Bruce had been forced to use two of his three substitutes as first Sulley Muntari and then Kieran Richardson limped off.

To their credit, the home side were not unduly affected as Cattermole, playing for the first time since December 28, and Steed Malbranque were drafted in and Stephane Sessegnon and Welbeck particularly lively.

However, despite enjoying the better of the possession, the Black Cats created little of note before the break with Welbeck's 17th-minute cross from the left which just eluded Richardson as close as they came to troubling Reina.

By contrast, the visitors struggled to get the ball anywhere near Carroll and Suarez, the latter of whom spent much of his time wide on the right, where he was largely effectively shackled by full-back Phil Bardsley.

However, it was they who created the better opportunities with Kuyt the main beneficiary.

Keeper Simon Mignolet bravely blocked the Dutchman's fifth-minute shot at point-blank range after Carroll had headed down Raul Meireles' corner, and Kuyt headed over from the resulting set-piece.

It was he who eventually broke the deadlock, but he did so in controversial circumstances.

Mensah's poor control allowed Spearing to burst towards the penalty area, and the Ghana international brought him down in his efforts to make amends.

Replays suggested the contact had taken place outside the area and referee Kevin Friend pointed to the spot on the advice of his assistant.

Kuyt sent Mignolet the wrong way to give the visitors the lead, and it might have been 2-0 before the break had the Belgian not got down well to palm away Suarez's well-struck 37th-minute effort.

Malbranque miskicked when presented with a 48th-minute half-chance after Jordan Henderson had worked a short corner move with Anton Ferdinand as Sunderland started the second half brightly.

However, the game might have been over three minutes later had Cattermole not managed to block Carroll's header on the line with his knee after the striker had been allowed to meet a Meireles corner unmarked.

The same pair could have put the result beyond doubt with 54 minutes gone when, after Mr Friend had allowed play to continue when Titus Bramble felled the striker, the midfielder fired over the top.

There was fury inside the Stadium of Light when the official then awarded the free-kick, which Suarez curled just wide.

Substitute Ahmed Elmohamady saw a header and then a follow-up shot blocked from Jordan Henderson's 65th-minute corner, but the points were safe with 13 minutes when Suarez squeezed his way into the box and blasted past Mignolet from a seemingly impossible angle.

A bad day for the Wearsiders took a further turn for the worse with 81 minutes gone when last man Mensah hauled Suarez down and was promptly shown a straight red card.

Bruce disappointed with penalty award

Steve Bruce was understandably upset about the penalty decision, although he admitted it probably would not have changed the result.

He said: "I have got no complaints about the result - it might not have affected the result, the way we played today. However, that was a really big, key decision for somebody 80 yards away - or 70 yards away at least - to overturn the referee.

"I knew and [fourth official] Martin Atkinson knew within five seconds that it was outside the box with the technology we have got. Surely it has got to be time for those sort of things to be brought into play with all the technology we have got today.

"But it was one of those horrible afternoons.''

Kenny Dalglish said: "There was a bit of dispute over whether the foul occurred inside or outside the box. From where we are, I couldn't honestly tell you, but if we have got a fortuitous one, then we have got a fortuitous decision in that instance. Overall, it was a great effort from our players.''

Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher admitted his side had been the beneficiaries of what an incorrect first-half penalty award.

He told Sky Sports: "I thought it was a penalty, but then I looked at half-time and I don't think it was, was it? It was just outside.

"Everyone knows goals change games - up to then it had been pretty even and Sunderland had been putting a bit of pressure on. Every week you can look at different incidents and you can always say it changes the game. Maybe it has gone our way but thankfully we got the other (goal) to make sure so you could say we would still have won 1-0.''

That other goal came from man of the match Luis Suarez, who fired home a shot from an acute angle, beating Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet at his near post.

"Luis is a top player and he has given everyone a lift,'' Carragher said. "Luis looked a top player and we missed him this week in Europe.''

Dalglish will be happy to leave his contract talks until the time is right. He said: "As regards the job, I have seen in the papers I have asked for four years. Well, I don't know who I asked. I saw that I was offered two (years) - I don't know who sent that in.

"Somebody said have I spoken to the owners - of course you speak to the owners, you speak to them regularly during the week. It's their club and they are fantastic owners and they are very supportive owners. But there have been no detailed discussions about next season, so until there is something that's to be said, we cannot make it up.

"Until there's something to be said, there's nothing. For me, that's not a problem. The football club has always been the most important thing bar one instance (the 1989 Hillsborough disaster), and that's why I left the job the last time.

"I don't have a problem. There is no pressure on anyone. I don't have a problem if it is in the best interests of the football club.''