London - Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 victory over a hapless Blackburn Rovers side on Saturday to move two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the English Premier League. Fernando Torres scored two first-half goals, Daniel Agger banged in a third and David Ngog scored the fourth as Liverpool piled the pressure on United.

Champions United have two games in hand, though, and can return to the top if they win at Sunderland later on Saturday.

Having lost 3-1 at home to Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, Liverpool needed to bounce back and they did just that with a commanding win that could easily have resulted in a bigger margin of victory.

Steven Gerrard was left on the bench as he nurses an adductor injury, but Liverpool were ahead within four minutes through a stunning goal from Torres.

Feeding onto a chipped pass by Jamie Carragher and turned and fired an unstoppable volley over Paul Robinson.

Torres missed a couple of gilt-edged chances to add to the lead before he headed home from a pinpoint Xabi Alonso free-kick.

Liverpool eased off after half-time and Christopher Samba almost pulled one back with 15 minutes to go, but he slipped when shooting and his effort was easily saved by Reina.

Agger made them pay with a superb long-range strike on 83 minutes and substitute Ngog headed in from close range just before the end of the 90 minutes. (dpa)