Liverpool find their range

Wigan 0 Liverpool 4:Craig Bellamy got his mind back on football in the perfect style, netting twice at the JJB Stadium as rampant Liverpool romped to their first Premiership away win at the expense of Wigan.

Bellamy netted twice in the opening half-hour, then spurned a hat-trick chance to set up Dirk Kuyt for a third as the Reds threatened to run riot.

They had a fourth before the break as Lee McCulloch turned Steven Gerrard's cross into his own net but failed to add any more after half time as Wigan escaped further punishment.

The first few months of Bellamy's 'dream' move to Liverpool were overshadowed by the court case which even Rafael Benitez admitted had distracted the striker's focus.

Thankfully for Bellamy, Wednesday's not guilty verdict has left him free to continue his career and he celebrated in the best manner possible as the Reds made a mockery of the miserable away form which has ended any hope of a Premiership title tilt before the campaign reached its halfway stage.

It is a measure of how badly Liverpool have struggled on the road this season that the eighth-minute goal Bellamy scored when he shrugged off Matt Jackson and finished with clinical efficiency after Emmerson Boyce had flicked John Arne Riise's long ball into his path was his side's first in open play away from Anfield.

The strike was tough luck for Wigan, who were the equal of their visitors before and after the opener, only for Bellamy to hit the Latics with a second just when they appeared to be getting on top.

Paul Jewell will no doubt rue the failure of either Boyce or Josip Skoko to clear their lines but there was no argument over the quality of Bellamy's finish once Gerrard had set him up.

Still, had the hosts taken one of the two gilt-edged opportunities which fell their way just after the half-hour, the outcome might have been vastly different.

Instead, the chances went begging as Jose Reina was twice rewarded for excellent saves that denied Paul Scharner and Emile Heskey by seeing first McCulloch — from barely three yards — then Henri Camara fail to hit the target with their rebound efforts.

It was time for Gerrard to take centre stage, literally for the third goal as he charged through the middle of Wigan's defence, brilliantly controlling Riise's long ball on his chest before slipping a pass through to Bellamy.

The Wales forward could easily have let fly for his hat-trick, instead he squared to Kuyt, who, from six yards, could not miss.

Gerrard then appeared on the Liverpool right at a short corner and drilled a low cross into the heart of the Wigan area. The visitors panicked and after Jackson had missed the ball completely, McCulloch turned it into his own net.

It was about the most miserable 45 minutes Wigan have endured this season and even Jewell must have known there would be no way back.

Scharner thought he had netted an early consolation but it was quickly ruled out for offside and while Wigan manfully pushed on, it was Liverpool who looked more likely to score again.

Steve Finnan flashed an angled drive just wide, then Bellamy was the subject of a couple of debatable offside calls as his unsuccessful hunt for a third continued.

Bellamy was booked for a clash with Fitz Hall to complete an eventful afternoon but at least he was smiling at the end, unlike the hosts, whose misery was summed up when former Liverpool striker Heskey blasted a shot against the post, and the rebound rocketed back too quickly for substitute David Cotterill to turn it in.