Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson got Liverpool's stuttering season back on track, leading the Reds past a gritty West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Lallana scored his first goal for the Reds, slotting home just before the end of the first half after a cute bit of interplay with Henderson. Henderson would then score the winner after Raheem Sterling slotted a ball into the area, and with Rickie Lambert offside but out of the play, Henderson put it to the far corner.
Brendan Rodgers admitted before the game that there was more pain to come for Liverpool's fans after a week that saw them downed in the Champions League by Basel, and mired at mid-table before Saturday's kickoffs. With a sense that things had to change, Mario Balotelli was dropped for the game as Lambert got his first start of the season in the league. (Lambert did little, and Balotelli would eventually come on to replace him, making a far more positive impact.)
But West Brom looked pretty comfortable for much of the game, with the tricky Saido Berahino testing Simon Mignolet, and Steven Gerrard and Philippe Coutinho both relegated to the game's periphery. Lallana himself was hardly involved in the first half, his goal coming basically out of nothing. So when Dejan Lovren tripped up Berahino, allowing him a penalty that he easily converted, you could hear the Anfield faithful deflate.
Henderson's goal in front of the Kop End would prove just the tonic, but the result still leaves Liverpool in the pack, albeit in the top half of the table. It will also not ease the nagging sense that this Liverpool side may have erred in sending away the admittedly toxic and suspended Luis Suarez. Without his guile and invention, this team looks to be back where they were when Rodgers took over: in transition.
Up North, Sunderland's Black Cats are not known for offering thrills, but today's game against Stoke proved to be one of the more entertaining of the day, with these two throwback sides trading early goals en route to a Sunderland win. Steven Fletcher would score twice to give Gus Poyet a 3-1 win over Mark Hughes' men and bob Sunderland up the table on goal difference.
Connor Wickham had got Sunderland on the board early, nipping in front of Phil Bardsley to head home Fletcher's cross into the back of the net. But that lead would not stand, with Charlie Adam firing through John O'Shea's legs ten minutes later, and into the far corner of the net. It was a sweet bit of work from Adam, but callow from O'Shea, who simply let the Scot turn him inside out.
It fell to Fletcher to restore the lead, and he did with abandon, heading home a thumping drive off a short corner to the near post. Fletcher would then ice the game with ten to play, slotting home after Wickham ran the length of the pitch to put the ball on a plate for him.
Sunderland fans are also taking some glee in the travails of their arch-rivals, but Alan Pardew is not dead yet there after Papiss Cisse saved the day for the Toon with two clutch goals to draw Swansea in Wales, 2-2.
That's not to say Newcastle looked good -- in fact it was another flaky performance from a side that seems to have lost the faith in their manager and themselves. That was best seen when Wilfried Bony made the Toon pay for a host of early misses, playing a neat one-two with Gylfi Sigurdssson to slip a shot right past Tim Krul to open the scoring in the 17th minute.
Sigurdsson, by far the best player in today's game, would set up Wayne Routledge for Swansea's second right after the break, placing his pass right through the Newcastle center-backs to allow Routledge to chip Krul.
But even a hobbled Cisse is a dangerous man, and he would restore parity twice in the game with some sterling work. His first goal came right before the break, a fine tap-in off Gabriel Obertan's service after ditching Ashley Williams. His second, a toe-poke on the volley off a whipped-in cross from Sammy Ameobi, was even sweeter.
Elsewhere, Burnley set a new and unwelcome club record today, managing to go nearly 11 hours without scoring a goal. The Clarets, who have struggled to both score and defend, were also behind at the time after conceding a cheap goal from Leicester's Jeremy Schlupp. Step up Michael Kightly, who finally, finally got a Burnley goal with a tap-in from six yards.
Mind you, Burnley's share of the spoils lasted but a minute as Riyad Mahrez stuck home Jamie Vardy's cross to give the Foxes the lead again. But Ross Wallace would be the late hero for the Clarets, scoring in the 6th minute of stoppage time to give them a 2-2 draw, and their first points in two weeks. They only have four, total (all draws) and remain in the cellar, with only QPR propping them up.
And Neil Warnock's unbeaten league run as Palace's manager came to an end today at Hull, with the up-for-sale Tigers coming away with a 2-0 home win thanks to a towering Mohamed Diame header. It was the first effort on net by either team in what had been a torpid and poorly-played match, distinguished only by the fact that Palace's Scott Dann had to exit early with a diagnosis of MCL damage and a concussion. Nikica Jelavic would add some late insurance, kept onside at midfield to run on to a long outlet and smash home past Julian Speroni.
