CHERRIES’ League Cup adventure came to an end as a first-half masterclass was instrumental in earning Liverpool a place in the semi-final.

Eddie Howe’s men were left with a mountain to climb after goals from Raheem Sterling and Lazar Markovic had seen the visitors reach the break in the ascendancy.

It could have been different if Callum Wilson and Yann Kermorgant had managed to convert presentable chances before and after the double salvo.

However, Cherries’ task became even more onerous once Sterling had added a third for the eight-time cup winners six minutes into the second half Cherries were thrown a lifeline when Dan Gosling netted to reduce the arrears during a spell which saw the hosts show their true colours.

However, des-pite creating further chances, Cherries were unable to grab a second which would have set up a grandstand finish but bowed out with their heads held high.

Boss Howe, presented with one of his more difficult selection posers of the season, opted to make six changes to the Cherries starting line-up.

Adam Smith, Baily Cargill, Junior Stanislas, Eunan O’Kane, Dan Gosling and Yann Kermorgant were all drafted in.

Brett Pitman, Harry Arter, Charlie Daniels and Steve Cook were named among the substitutes, Marc Pugh was rested and Andrew Surman cup-tied.

Liverpool made three changes following their 3-0 defeat by Manchester United on Sunday with Kolo Toure, Lucas Leiva and Markovic all coming in.

A brisk start from the hosts saw Smith fashion the first shooting chance after two minutes, his driving run ending with Toure charging down his effort.

And Callum Wilson went mightily close to breaking the deadlock in the fourth minute when he side-footed wide after neatly lifting the ball over Dejan Lovren.

Liverpool quickly countered with Cherries goalkeeper Artur Boruc forced to pull off a top-drawer save to keep out Lallana’s stinging left-foot drive from 20 yards.

The visitors continued to create chances with Matt Ritchie blocking from Steven Gerrard and O’Kane doing likewise after Leiva had pulled the trigger.

However, following a spell which saw Liverpool keep possession for what seemed like an age, with estimates ranging from 39 to 52 passes, Brendan Rodgers’s men opened the scoring.

The passage ended with a hanging cross from the left by Markovic picking out Jordan Henderson who was unmarked at the far post.

And the England man cushioned a header across the six-yard box to Sterling who had the simple task of nodding it past Boruc and inside the post.

Liverpool doubled their lead after 27 minutes when Markovic finished with aplomb into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

The Serbian, a £20million summer signing from Benfica, latched on to the loose ball after Boruc had beaten away Lallana’s drive from a tight angle and drilled a right-shot into the back of the net.

Liverpool’s superior cutting edge was magnified when Ker-morgant spurned a glorious chance to halve the deficit just minutes later.

The Frenchman blazed over with the goal gaping in front of him after Simon Francis had teed him up with a perfectly-weighted cut-back following a slide-rule pass down the line from Ritchie.

Stanislas’s 39th-minute corner was cleared only as far as Gosling but his piledriver from the edge of the box was blocked by Gerrard.

Tommy Elphick’s block from Henderson’s rasping drive at the start of the season half almost wrong-footed Boruc, the ball trickling wide of the post.

Liverpool extended their lead six minutes after the break when Sterling added his second and the visitors’ third.

The striker fastened on to Lal-lana’s through ball and weaved his way past Elphick before rifling a low shot past Boruc.

Gosling, Cherries’ League Cup talisman, gave the hosts hope when he reduced the arrears with a finely-taken effort after 57 minutes.

The midfielder collected Ritchie’s driven cross and skipped past one defender before hammering the ball past Brad Jones to chalk up his fifth goal in the competition this season.

Ryan Fraser, on as a 53rd-minute substitute, saw his looping header drop the wrong side of the opposite post after O’Kane had found him on the far post.

Sterling squandered an opportunity to complete his hat-trick when he dragged his shot wide before Cherries twice went close to further eating into the deficit.

Firstly, Gosling struck Jones’s right-hand upright following good approach play from Smith before Ritchie’s driven effort flashed past the post.

Cherries: Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cargill, Smith, Ritchie, Gosling, O’Kane (Pitman, 81), Stanislas (Fraser, 53), Kermorgant (Arter, 53), Wilson.

Unused subs: MacDonald, Daniels, Cook, Camp (g/k).

Liverpool: Jones, Henderson, Toure, Lovren (Sakho, h-t), Skrtel, Markovic, Coutinho (Can, 74), Gerrard (Borini, 90), Leiva, Lallana, Sterling.

Unused subs: Lambert, Moreno, Manquillo, Mignolet (g/k).

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.

Attendance: 11,347.