ROY EVANS' makeshift Reds gave a devastating display to guarantee themselves a UEFA Cup place. West Ham, however, crashed to their worst defeat of the season and can put their passports back in the drawer after back-to-back defeats that leave them off the European pace in tenth. Maybe Evans should have lost his temper with his under-achieving squad months ago, because their response to the ear-bashing he dished out after a 4-1 loss at Chelsea last weekend clearly hit a nerve. The Anfield boss accused his players of ''throwing in the towel'' at Stamford Bridge, something Harry Redknapp probably feels like saying at the moment. A lot of West Ham's problems were self-inflicted - some of their defending would have disgraced a pub side - but that shouldn't take anything away from a Liverpool team that played superbly even though Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Dominic Matteo and Rob Jones were out. If they served up this sort of stuff every week they would be in the thick of the championship fight, but a baffling lack of consistency has seen the Anfield title challenge crumble. Michael Owen returned from suspension to give the Liverpool attack a cutting edge. The lightning-fast striker was on the scoresheet inside four minutes, ex-Everton man David Unsworth gifting the ball to Bjorn Tore Kvarme who sent the tenager away to finish clinically inside Bernard Lama's far post. After Owen's opener, Jason McAteer marked his 200th career league appearance with two fine first half goals. Making his comeback after breaking a leg in January, the Republic of Ireland international blazed a 20-yarder past Lama after 20 minutes. Just six minutes later, the French goalkeeper's despairing dive brought Owen down in the box but referee Jeff Winter played an excellent advantage which allowed McAteer to steer the loose ball into the net. The fourth came a minute before the break when Oyvind Leonhardsen was allowed to control the ball and turn before firing right-footed into the bottom corner. West Ham's first half misery was compounded by bookings for Lama, Rio Ferdinand, Trevor Sinclair and Eyal Berkovic. The second half brought little improvement for Hammers fans. Paul Ince, who had been predictably barracked by the visiting supporters early on, shut them up after 61 minutes when he drilled in a stunning 25-yarder. And their nightmare day was completed when midfielder John Moncur was taken off with a leg injury following a Jamie Carragher tackle. LIVERPOOL: Friedel, Kvarme, McAteer, Babb, Leonhardsen, Harkness, Riedle, Ince, Owen, Bjornebye, Carragher Subs Not Used: James, Berger, Murphy, Gudnason, Roberts Booked: Babb WEST HAM: Lama, Unsworth, Sinclair, Kitson (Mean 84), Lomas, Ferdinand, Moncur (Omoyimni 75), Lazaridis, Lampard, Pearce, Berkovic (Abou 52) Subs Not Used: Forrest, Berthe Booked: Lama, Berkovic, Sinclair, Ferdinand, Unsworth Att: 44,414 Ref: J T Winter (Stockton-on-Tees)

DUBLIN DENTS ROVERS' EUROPEAN DREAM Coventry City 2 Blackburn Rovers 0   THIS bad-tempered head-to-head between two Euro hopefuls exploded into life in the 18th minute when Blackburn's England keeper Tim Flowers was sent off... without even making it onto the pitch! Flowers, a substitute for Saturday's match, was shown the red card for venting his anger at a linesman's penalty decision from the touchline as Rovers' UEFA Cup hopes took a severe knock. He was enraged when the referee's assistant spotted a handball by team-mate Patrik Valery. The flag went up and then down again before referee Stephen Lodge, who had initially waved play-on, finally consulted his assistant and awarded Coventry an 18th minute penalty. Dion Dublin stepped up to tuck the spot-kick confidently past John Filan, but Flowers' blood was up and he launched a torrent of abuse at the linesman, earning him his marching orders bizarrely still leaving his team with 11 players on the pitch. Fit-again midfielder George Boateng scored a second for the Sky Blues on 35 minutes. Dublin received the ball in the penalty area and laid it off into the path of the fast-arriving Dutchman, who took the ball in his stride and shot past Filan. Blackburn threw on Damien Duff and Martin Dahlin in the second half as they battled to get back into the game. But after so many talking points in the first 45 minutes, the second period was a wash-out - and just left Flowers with some explaining to do to manager Roy Hodgson. The win gave Coventry's slim UEFA Cup hopes a boost and leaves Blackburn needing to beat Alan Shearer's Newcastle in their final game next Sunday to clinch a European place for next season. COVENTRY: Hedman, Shaw, Burrows, Breen, Nilsson, Whelan, Telfer, Soltvedt, Boateng (Boland 86), Dublin, Huckerby (Moldovan 68) Subs Not Used: Ogrizovic, Williams, Hall Booked: Huckerby BLACKBURN: Filan, Kenna, Valery (Duff 45), Hendry, Henchoz, Croft, Wilcox, Flitcroft, McKinlay (Dahlin 66), Gallacher, Sutton Subs Not Used: Flowers, Ripley, Broomes. Sent Off: Flowers (21) Booked: Sutton Att: 18,794 Ref: SJ Lodge (Barnsley)

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