Reds clip Canaries

Liverpool moved to within one point of second-placed Manchester United after cruising to victory against toothless Norwich.

Robbie Fowler's two goals took his tally to five in the four holiday games - 22 for the season - and there was an ominous ease about the way the Merseysiders dominated proceedings.

Norwich were guilty of slack marking for Liverpool's first goal, John Scales rising unchallenged at the far post to nod home Stig Inge Bjornebye's left wing corner after 14 minutes.

Then, 23 minutes later, the inexperience of Norwich goalkeeper Andy Marshall found him out when Ian Rush flicked Steve McManaman's pass on with precision to Fowler, firing home through the keeper's legs as he tried to cover his near post.

Norwich made a double substitution at half-time, bringing on Darren Eadie and Neil Adams in place of Jeremy Goss and Rob Newman. But, a minute into the second half, Fowler put the result beyond doubt.

Liverpool keeper David James hoofed a massive clearance upfield and Fowler had the pace to sprint clear of the Norwich defence plus the composure to finish with a clinical low drive.

Fowler turned provider with seven minutes remaining, crossing from the right for Rush to loop a header over the keeper and high into the net.

Marshall had been lucky to escape with a couple of clearances under pressure early on. First, he fired Newman's back pass straight to Rush after three minutes but got down well to save the Welsh international's shot.

Two minutes later, he hammered another clearance at Spencer Prior, who was standing a couple of yards in front of him in the box, but appeals for a penalty for handball were turned down by referee Keith Cooper.

John Barnes curled a free kick wide and Marshall twice saved from Rush.

Mike Sheron and Robert Ullathorne fired wide for Norwich in the seventh and eighth minutes but it was 43 minutes before James had a save to make, getting down well at full stretch to gather the ball as Ashley Ward fired in a low cross.

Norwich substitute Eadie brought another good save out of the well positioned James with a flick header in the first few seconds of the second half before Fowler's second goal put the game beyond the Canaries' reach.

John Deehan said of Liverpool: "I was just glad the final whistle came, because they didn't look as though they would take their foot off the pedal at any stage. We met a very good side, but it was a performance from Norwich that was below what we have expected in the early part of the season. There were too many poor performances in too many important positions and Liverpool took full advantage of that."

In a classic case of understatement Liverpool manager Roy Evans said: "We've done ourselves no harm over the festive season. I have just thanked the players that have played, the substitutes and the staff. Over the eight day period they have put that effort in. They have looked after themselves in a reasonable fashion and they may even get a day off tomorrow! The main pat on the back must go to the players. They have kept themselves in a condition to perform even in the last game of the period, and today we won comfortably in the end. I have always talked about consistency being a factor and we've had that over this eight days. We are still only half way through the season, but we've showed we can do it."

Evans added: "It's not a bad start to the New Year. We've just got to keep our heads down and keep going."

Copyright - British Soccer Week