IT was a ruthless elimination of which the watching James Bond would have been proud.

And on a weekend when their dreams of the Premier League crown moved further out of reach, at least Liverpool have a quantum of solace that their championship challenge goes on.

An effortless dispatching of a dreadful Newcastle United continued the strong end-of-season showing from Rafael Benitez’s side while racking up a number of goalscoring landmarks.

Although another convincing spectacle to enjoy for the home supporters, who yesterday included lifelong Liverpool fan and 007 star Daniel Craig among their number, there is a growing acceptance the long wait for the title will soon be extended by another year.

Manchester United’s win at Middlesbrough the previous day means Benitez’s men are now reliant on their bitter North West rivals dropping six points from their final four games.

With United having won 16 of their last 18 league games, such a collapse appears unlikely. But as long as there is mathematical hope, Liverpool have shown themselves steadfastly unwilling to throw in the towel.

That determination and self-belief was certainly far too much for Newcastle to handle yesterday, Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva on target to move Liverpool on to 69 Premier League goals this season, their best-ever tally under Benitez with three games still remaining.

And it could easily have been a lot more. Xabi Alonso twice struck the crossbar, Steven Gerrard also found woodwork and Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper made a string of excellent saves. Alonso had richly deserved a goal following a sublime performance before his afternoon was rudely curtailed 13 minutes from time by an ugly challenge from Joey Barton that earned Newcastle’s Huyton-born midfielder a deserved red card.