Liverpool have gained some revenge for Saturday's FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea by dismantling the Blues at Anfield this evening.
Visiting Chelsea hit the woodwork with the first real chance when Branislav Ivanovic was left unmarked but could only head against Pepe Reina's upright.
The hosts made Chelsea pay for the miss moments later when Luis Suarez broke clear down the right and advanced into the area, holding off the challenge of Oriol Romeu before Michael Essien bundled the Uruguayan's pullback into his own net.
The Reds doubled their advantage six minutes later when John Terry should have cut out a through ball down the middle, but allowed Jordan Henderson to go through one-on-one with Ross Turnbull and pass into the far corner.
It went from bad to worse for the Blues when Carroll headed a corner into the turf for centre-back Daniel Agger to then loop a header over three Chelsea men on the line.
Former Red Fernando Torres came within inches of pulling one back before the interval but his bullet effort from a tight angle cannoned back off the underside off the crossbar.
Stewart Downing, without a goal this season, then smacked Turnbull's crossbar before being gifted the chance to break his duck from the penalty spot after Carroll was brought down. However, the England winger placed his spot kick into the foot of the post.
Chelsea pulled one back five minutes into the second half when Florent Malouda's free kick went through a crowd of players before hitting Ramires's midriff and dribbling over the line.
Kenny Dalglish's men restored their three-goal advantage on the hour when Turnbull's attempted clearance fell at the feet of Jonjo Shelvey, who guided his long-range effort into an unguarded net.
Blues subsitute Romelu Lukaku wasted a chance to get a second for the visitors by heading straight at Pepe Reina.
A win for Liverpool sees them close the gap to Merseyside rivals Everton to just a single point ahead of Sunday's final day in the Premier League, while defeat for Chelsea means their hopes of finishing in the top four have been ended and they must now win the Champions League next weekend to secure European football next season.
Pascal Lemesre
