hits over seven innings for his third straight quality sta

MANCHESTER, England -- Liverpool underlined its new-found superiority over Manchester United with a humbling 3-0 victory over its great rival on Sunday, virtually ending the beleaguered champions chances of qualifying for the Champions League. On the darkest day of David Moyes tumultuous first season at Old Trafford, United was outclassed as Steven Gerrard converted two penalties -- and missed a third -- and Luis Suarez completed the crushing win with his 25th goal of the campaign. Liverpool moved up to second and within four points of leader Chelsea with a game in hand, and can realistically aim to win a first league title since 1990. "To come here and dominate from start to finish, were still going away slightly disappointed that we didnt score more goals," said Gerrard, whose penalties came in the 34th and 46th minutes. "Weve showed today that we are genuine contenders and we are going to fight to the end for this." While Liverpool capitalized on Chelseas 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday with another effervescent attacking display, United couldnt be at a lower ebb after being humiliated in arguably the biggest match in English football, which was watched by Argentina great Diego Maradona. Their defending was shambolic and reckless -- there could have been more than three penalties awarded -- and Nemanja Vidic was sent off for his second booking in the lead-up to the third spot kick that Gerrard struck against the post in the 78th. Moyes has a massive job to pick his team up in time for Wednesday, when United tries to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Olympiakos in the Champions Leagues last 16. That is their final shot at silverware. "Its a nightmare," United striker Wayne Rooney said after the teams fifth home defeat in the league, which left it 12 points off fourth-place Manchester City having played two more games. "Its one of the worst days Ive ever had in football." Liverpool had lost on its previous six visits to Old Trafford and seemingly had an inferiority complex whenever it came to the home of its biggest foe. No more. Brendan Rodgers men were brighter and more courageous on the ball, played at a quicker tempo and were more incisive going forward. For the first time in a generation, they were widely seen as favourites for a match at United, even in the opinion of Moyes. It could have been 6-0 or 7-0 by the end as Liverpool ran amok. In the closing stages, with United down to 10 men and having virtually given up, it evoked memories of the 6-1 home loss to Manchester City two seasons ago. Liverpool has gone from finishing 28 points behind United, the champions last season, to being 14 points ahead of them this season. "The biggest thing of where we have come in the last year is belief," Rodgers said. "I was probably surprised before the game when we were supposedly coming to Old Trafford at favourites. I would never say that at Liverpool, even if we were bottom. Anfield is Anfield and we expect to win. We have a mentality that I have been developing that we expect to win." United hadnt had a chance of note by the time Liverpool deservedly went ahead, at the culmination of a disastrous 90 seconds for Rafael da Silva. Soon after earning a yellow card for a reckless lunge at Gerrard, the Brazilian right back was caught out of position from a deep cross from Liverpools right, allowing Suarez to bring the ball down and past Rafael in one touch. Rafael flicked out a hand and gave away a penalty that Gerrard dispatched into the corner with some aplomb. Fans were still filtering back to their seats after halftime when Phil Jones barged into Joe Allen in the area, 23 seconds after the restart. There were no complaints when the referee awarded a penalty and Gerrard found the right corner again, this time low down, for his seventh successful spot kick in 2014. By the middle of the second half, Liverpool was stringing passes together to a soundtrack of "Oles" from the Liverpool visitors. The superiority of the visitors was marked and United was just way off the pace. "Its difficult to explain," Moyes said. It got even worse for Moyes beleaguered side when Vidic was given a second yellow card for bringing down Sturridge in the box in the 77th. Gerrard struck a low effort against the post but Liverpool wasnt to be denied a third, Sturridge slipping a pass through for Suarez to collect and shoot home. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Earnshaw, 31, most recently spent time on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv from Welsh club Cardiff City, which plays in Englands second-tier League Championship. Earnshaw began his career with Cardiff Citys youth program and turned professional in 1998. Cheap San Jose Sharks Jerseys . It was well worth the wait. Manning and the Denver Broncos waited eight long months, then another 33 minutes to get the season started because of a lightning storm. http://www.cheapsharksjerseys.com/ . Rinne had surgery on his left hip May 9 and recovered in time to start the season. He then had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 24 because of a bacterial infection in his hip. Cheap Sharks Jerseys China . After Mondays comments by Coach Claude Noel that its work first and skill second, and that more “A” games are needed, the Jets responded with a 47-shot effort. If not for terrific goaltending by Braden Holtby the Jets would have had two points in regulation. Cheap Sharks Jerseys . It was the start of one nice night for the goalie and the Minnesota Wild. Backstrom made 33 saves in his first win of the season and the Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday in a rematch of their first-round playoff series.MI MINNEAPOLIS -- Needing a big hit, the Minnesota Twins instead turned a little tapper back to the mound into big trouble for the Kansas City Royals. Pitcher Wade Davis made a wild flip home on a comebacker in the eighth inning and the Twins rallied past the Royals 4-3 Sunday for a three-game sweep. "Had the play right there in front of me, just didnt make it," Davis said. A madcap sequence put the Twins ahead and a crazy play ended it, too. With two outs and none on in the ninth, Mike Moustakas popped a ball straight up. As he stood to watch it in the batters box, catcher Kurt Suzuki tripped over him, resulting in an interference call for the final out. "Thats always on the hitter," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Thats not going to be on the defender. He has a right to catch the ball." After the Royals scored three times in the eighth for a 3-2 lead, reliever Aaron Crow (0-1) walked two Minnesota batters to start the bottom half. Davis struck out Joe Mauer, but Trevor Plouffe walked to load the bases. Chris Herrmann then hit a grounder back to the mound and Davis, hoping to begin an easy double play, hesitated briefly after getting the ball out of his glove. Davis toss sailed past catcher Salvador Perez. Pedro Florimon scored the tying run and Dozier slid home under Perezs return throw to Davis, who was a step late covering the plate. "You got to be aggressive, you cant lose that," Dozier said. "I saw the throw. I saw Davis just hanging out a good 10 yards away from the thing, so might as well take a shot." The lapse by Davis compounded an already frustrating series for the Royals. Kansas City was outscored 21-5 in the sweep. "I got frustrated and made a mental mistake by not being there," Davis said. "Its unacceptable." Casey Fien (1-0) goot one out and Glen Perkins posted his third save.dddddddddddd. The Royals have lost their first five road games this season, managing just nine runs. "I think everybodys trying to do too much right now," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "When you go in a slump everybody tries to do more, and thats only natural for a team when youre having trouble scoring runs." Josmil Pinto hit his third homer in the seventh inning to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Twins starter Kevin Correia cruised through seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings. Eric Hosmers RBI double capped the Royals three-run eighth. Not wearing sleeves despite a gametime temperature of 42 degrees, Jason Vargas held the Twins to two runs on five hits over seven innings for his third straight quality start this season. That type of outing would have been more than enough last season, when the Royals won 15 of 19 from Minnesota. But the Twins now have the upper hand to start 2014. NOTES: The Twins swept the Royals for the first time since winning four in a row in June 2011. ... A CT scan revealed a small fracture in LF Josh Willinghams hand. Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said the team will consult hand specialists, but remains hopeful that Willingham wont need more than 15 days on the disabled list. ... Gardenhire returned after missing the previous two games to attend a funeral. ... Both teams are off on Monday. When the Royals begin a three-game series in Houston on Tuesday, hard-throwing Dominican rookie Yordano Ventura will make his second start against RHP Lucas Harrell (0-2, 11.05). ... The Twins begin a three-game series at Target Field with Toronto on Tuesday. RHP Phil Hughes will look for his first win in a Twins uniform against RHP Brandon Morrow (1-1, 5.73). ' ' '