The Reds finally ended their dismal Premiership run with an excellent win at St. Mary's. Emile Heskey was the star man as he repaid the faith that Gerard Houllier showed in him.
This was only our second visit to Southampton's new stadium, which is a vast improvement on the shed that was The Dell. Although it is an unimaginative bowl a la Riverside and Pride Park, I can actually forgive them. The concourses have plenty of room to stand around and have a pre match drink and there is also no music blasted through loudspeakers in a pathetic attempt to drum up an atmosphere. It is also handily placed near the city centre with plenty of pubs within 10-15 minutes walk that are welcoming to away fans.
Last years first visit ended in a 2-0 defeat thanks to a dodgy penalty and a comical own goal by John Arne Riise. We have never done well down on the south coast and with them being unbeaten at home all season, it was probably the last place we needed to visit given our recent poor form. Once again Sky TV have shown their contempt for the travelling fan and although not as bad as last seasons 8pm on a Wednesday, the 5.35 kickoff was still a big pain in the arse.
But the Reds allocation did sell out eventually even if it did take Daytrippers to fill the last remaining seats. Those that had sacrificed a Saturday night out to travel down however were in good voice and were nearly rewarded in the first 20 seconds. Niemi fumbled Riise's shot and Michael Owen just failed to connect properly with the rebound.
A minute later Niemi had to be on his guard again to tip Danny Murphy's effort over the bar. Liverpool were playing like anything but a team in relegation form and Steven Gerrard had an attempt on goal shortly after Murphy. Then Murphy fed a brilliant ball to Heskey but the big man failed to read it properly.
The fact that Heskey was on the pitch at all was a shock to most Reds. By his own admission he has been unproductive of late and not been helped by Houllier's insistence of playing him at left midfield. Now he was preferred up front to the in form Neil Mellor, who couldn't even make the bench. It was definitely a brave decision by Houllier and one that could well have backfired enormously.
Certainly on this first non contribution the omens didn't look good. But after Owen and Diouf had gone close Emile's moment came on 14 minutes. After being brought down on the right, he got clear of his marker to meet the resultant free kick and power a header into the net. It was no more than the team deserved for their early pressure, as the score could well have been 3-0 already.
The goal then galvanised Emile and he put in a performance to savour for the rest of the game, reminding us just what he is capable of and why Houllier paid £11 million for him. He ran at the opposition, looked to set up others and got back to defend. The only black spot was when he missed a golden opportunity to put us 2-0 up on 21 minutes, shooting to near to the keeper when clean through.
Southampton just weren't in it for the first half, but that was because we didn't allow them to be. Steven Gerrard was immense, winning every ball in midfield and driving the team forward, whilst at the back even the usually unsure Djimi Traore was confident.
In total the Reds had twelve goal attempts that first half and half of them would have gone in on another day. Southampton were restricted to hit and hope efforts and Kirkland was never troubled.
However, Liverpool have lost the lead so many times in this winless run that nobody was counting any chickens at half time. There was a nervousness as the second half started and Kirkland had his first real save to make in the first minute after the restart. But this only served to galvanise our players and Heskey, Murphy and Riise all tried their luck on goal in the early stages.
Then in the 56th minute Owen missed a golden chance to secure all three points. After being set up by Riise he looked like he couldn't miss but somehow shot inches wide of the left post.
I had a horrible feeling that this could have been Southampton's 'get out of jail card' and Strachan immediately made two substitutions in the hope of capitalising on his good fortune. Ormerod and Svensson came on for Tessem and Marsden. Marsden has always played well against us despite having the silliest run in football. This time he hardly got a kick due to the presence of Jamie Carragher.
Special mention has to be made for Diouf as well who was operating at right midfield. Although not scintillating, he was effective going forward and can do no worse than Smicer in this role. He also got back to help out the defence when necessary and didn't let anyone down.
The final quarter of the game was very much a non event. Both midfields performed in such a way that neither side could find much of a way through. The scoreboard clock seemed to be going backwards as Reds fans desperately longed for the final whistle to end the recent misery. YNWA started with 2-3 minutes left, which is far too early. There was a heart stopping moment near the end when a corner was conceded unnecessarily but Kirkland dealt with it effectively.
When the referee finally called time, it was greeted with relief as much as jubilation as the worst league run in the clubs history for 49 years finally came to an end. I hadn't checked what new record would have been created if we had failed to win. I was too scared to.
Star man was Emile, whose inclusion in the starting line up raised quite a few eyebrows. But the fans got behind him and he put in an excellent all round display. It's hard on Mellor and Baros, but I believe the only way we can start challenging at the top again is if Houllier chooses a best eleven and sticks to it, replacing players only through injury or severe loss of form. If we start from this game, Emile holds one of the two striking positions. For how long, that's up to him!
TEAM: Chris Kirkland; Jamie Carragher, Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore; El Hadji Diouf, Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard, John Arne Riise; Emile Heskey, Michael Owen:
