Luis Suarez's brace helped Liverpool maintain their charge for Champions League action in a sensational eight-goal thriller with Stoke.
A bizarre encounter saw goals fly in at either end as the Uruguayan striker got his 21st and 22nd Premier League strikes of the season, while Daniel Sturridge made a welcome return from the bench, setting up one goal for his strike partner and bagging one himself.
There were excellent goals but it was Stoke's comical defending that put Brendan Rodgers' in early control as it appeared that the visitors would just ease to victory.
Ryan Shawcross had a horrific day at the office as Aly Cissokho's wayward strike went in off the hapless defender to wrongfoot Jack Butland with just five minutes gone. Things then got worse for the Potters pair when a long punt upfield was poorly headed backwards, the one-time England defender then nicked the ball past his own keeper and there was Suarez to fire it in.
However, what should have been a routine victory was then turned on its head by a quickfire double from former Liverpool duo Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam.
First the beanpole striker popped up with an expertly taken header which Simon Mignolet could get nowhere near and five minutes later it was really game on as the Scottish midfielder, much maligned in his time at Anfield, seized on a scrappy ball to smash a left-footed beauty in, and unlike the England forward he happily celebrated his goal.
Brendan Rodgers geared up to give his players a rollicking for relinquishing such a comfortable position and such words quickly had an effect after the break.
Further hideous defending, this time from Marc Wilson, gifted the ball to Sterling and then the Stoke man capped it off by bundling over the tricky winger, who was excellent throughout, in the box. Steven Gerrard accepted such an opportunity happily as he stuck the ball away.
Both sides launched wave after wave of attack but crucially Liverpool possessed more creativity in the shape of Suarez, Sterling and the returning Daniel Sturridge, who they brought off the bench in place of Philippe Coutinho.
It took little time for the two strikers to resume their devastating SAS partnership as the England forward tore through Stoke’s defence and set up the Premier League top scorer to curl it beyond Butland’s despairing dive.
That should have been it but extraordinarily Stoke were not done there as Jonathan Walters offered Mark Hughes side a lifeline when his 85th minute strike squirmed through Simon Mignolet's poor save.
But the returning Sturridge refused to let the hosts have the final say as he chased down a loose ball, saw his first effort saved by Butland, but then turned in the rebound, to ensure Liverpool moved back up to fourth at the expense of neighbours Everton.-- camisetas de futbol baratas online
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