United competed until the 59th minute when Mike Williamson fouled Luis Suarez for a penalty that Dirk Kuyt converted.
Dirk Kuyt's close-range finish three minutes before the interval looked to have secured Liverpool a slender lead.
But the decision had been made and Kuyt duly placed the ball to the left of Mignolet.
Just past the hour Kuyt failed to pick the right pass with Gerrard in wonderfully promising position.
He failed to deal with Aurelio's free-kick under pressure from Lucas, and Kuyt steered home the loose ball.
Inter Milan midfielder Sneijder netted the winner when he headed Dirk Kuyt's near-post flick-on past a stranded Cesar.
Liverpool suffered a blow seven minutes after the break when Keane limped off to be replaced by Kuyt.
The Black Cats fell behind to a Dirk Kuyt first-half penalty after John Mensah had fouled Jay Spearing.
Kingson also played his part when he made a good low save to deny Dirk Kuyt's placed effort.
Only the departure of Torres, Gerrard and Kuyt spared Sunderland further pain as Liverpool eased off towards the end.
Craig Bellamy added a second with a low finish and Dirk Kuyt scored a third after a quick break.
Liverpool deployed Kuyt as a lone striker, though Gerrard tried to get forward in support as often as possible.
Dirk Kuyt said he hoped that this Dutch team could triumph where the teams of 1974 and 1978 fell down.
With seconds remaining, Liverpool won a corner on the right which Gerrard delivered on to the head of Dirk Kuyt.
Kuyt scored, but Everton were enraged when Carragher fouled Lescott in front of referee Clattenburg, who waved away their appeals.
Liverpool rounded off an impressive performance in style six minutes from time when Gerrard found Kuyt raiding down the right.
In Gerrard's absence they played Dirk Kuyt in the position behind Fernando Torres and he was nullified by De Jong.
The Gunners trailed 1-0 at the break after an awful opening 45 minutes that had seen Dirk Kuyt score for Liverpool.
It got worse when Benayoun's cross was only cleared to Skrtel, whose shot was diverted past keeper Myhill by Kuyt's header.
Liverpool's move for Kuyt appears to depend on whether they can clinch a deal for Sevilla's Brazilian right-sided player Daniel Alves.
BBC: SPORT | Football | My Club | Liverpool | Kuyt ready to decide his future
Sulley Muntari (calf) and Kieran Richardson (hamstring) both limped off before Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring with the hotly contested 34th-minute penalty.
Geovanni slotted in to revive Hull's hopes of a draw but Kuyt hit his second when Alvaro Arbeloa's shot fell to him.
El Zhar follows Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun and Daniel Agger in committing his long-term future to the club.
However, Hodgson has been boosted by better news on strikers Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt, and defenders Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson.
Raul Meireles pinged a corner to the back post which the tall forward nodded back into the six-yard area for Dirk Kuyt.
Turnbull comfortably beat away an early Dirk Kuyt drive, but was then helped out by a number of last-ditch tackles and blocks that frustrated Liverpool.
From the following corner, Kuyt headed over the bar from 12 yards.
Gerrard fed Dirk Kuyt and the Dutchman surged at retreating defenders before drilling the ball past Kiely from the edge of the box.
Look at Liverpool, their midfield is defensive and how does the connection work, suarez and kuyt cut in and out of the midfield.
Jamie Carragher's long ball was touched on by Crouch, and Kuyt eased his way past Ferreira to side-foot a composed finish past Cech.
应用推荐