Report by Steve Horton at Ewood Park | |
In a game that swung one way then another, Liverpool had to settle for just a point at Ewood Park on Saturday evening.
After a Red avalanche had looked on the cards Blackburn clawed their way back in, but the result was insignificant when details of the horrific injury to Djibril Cisse came to light.
5.15pm on a Saturday night isn't the most convenient time for an away game but a 45-60 minute drive up the M6 and M65 makes it tolerable. Many others opted for the two hour local train crawl that took in either Manchester or Preston.
Blackburn's generous ticket allocation meant a great atmosphere which was improved further by the extra drinking time. Most of the 7,000 fans in the Darwen End seemed to have been in the Golden Cup or the Fernhurst, where the over zealous local police were videoing events.
The Reds began the game the far better of the two sides. Cisse hit a superb drive in the second minute that Brad Friedel managed to get his hand to, and Milan Baros was tackled just as he was lining up a shot from the penalty spot.
When we went ahead in the seventh minute it really was no surprise. Xabi Alonso picked out John Arne Riise with an inch perfect pass and the Norwegian kept his cool to run in on goal and fire a shot into the bottom corner.
It was another stunning contribution from Alonso, who is looking to be worth every penny of the £10.7 million we paid for him.
Given that Blackburn have lost their last two games 4-0, it should have sparked a rout, but we allowed them to get back somewhat, buoyed by a home crowd that spring into life.
The drumbeating cheerleader had them singing "Sparky Hughes's Blue and White Army" none stop, proving just how small time they are. They couldn't even sell this game out, with 4000 seats being left empty.
We had held the lead for just eight minutes when Steve Finnan and Josemi failed to deal with Emerton and the Aussie crossed in for Bothroyd to roll the ball in from about four yards.
The left flank has always been a bogey position for Liverpool but this season it's most definitely the right. For all his effort, Josemi sadly doesn't fit the bill yet as the top class full back we need there. It's still early days though and I'd rather have him there than Finnan.
Blackburn had the edge for the next fifteen minutes with Jamie Carragher having to clear the lines on more than one occasion. His move into the centre back position has been a masterstroke as he can now exert his influence right across the back four.
If we do sign another central defender, it will definitely be Sami Hyypia's place which is most under threat.
Djimi Traore didn't have as accomplished a game as of late, including one hairy moment when instead of blasting the ball clear he tried to chest it down and take it past a man. He came in for quite a bit of unnecessary stick for that, something which is sadly inevitable from some who see him as a Houllier flop and will never give him even the slightest credit.
I will stick my neck on the block though and predict he will play for France before the end of the season, turning his back on Mali who had looked like getting his services at one point.
After weathering Blackburn's storm following their equaliser, we began to reassert our authority after the half hour mark. Baros drew a fine save from Friedel then came the terrible moment when Cisse went to ground after an innocuous looking challenge.
The longer he stayed down, the more serious it looked then the text messages began to arrive from people who had seen it on television – it was clearly a broken leg. This is a truly horrible injury, far worse than what had happened to Carragher and Baros on this very ground last year.
The official line is wait and see but he could be out for the season which is a massive blow as we are still waiting to see the best of him. When I saw the picture I felt sick and I will be delighted just to see him play at the top level again.
We were reeling from that for the rest of the half and then some terrible defensive errors led to Blackburn taking the lead in injury time. Both Hyypia and Josemi failed to clear, allowing Emerton to steer the ball into the bottom left hand corner of Kirkland's goal.
Mark Hughes, who had so often been Liverpool's nemesis as a player now looked like he was going to be one as a manager as well.
Blackburn went for the kill at the start of the second half and Traore had to deflect a dangerous cross from Reid around the post for a corner.
When we attacked, the referee was doing his best to upset us, giving a goal kick after the ball had clearly gone out for a corner. Then we got a great piece of good fortune when Blackburn were awarded a free kick on the half way line for nothing in particular. They rushed it, allowing Luis Garcia to intercept and release Baros who closed in on Friedel and calmly slotted home to the delight of the Reds fans packed behind the goal.
The pendulum swung Liverpool's way after this and Baros was awesome, taking on the lone striking responsibility magnificently. After running from just inside the Blackburn half for his goal, he very nearly repeated the feat from his own penalty area, eventually being crowded out by defenders after Blackburn had wasted a corner.
Thuggish behaviour was the only way to stop the Czech and Tugay received the yellow card for a rash challenge on him.
To reaffirm his determination to win, Rafa Benitez sent on Harry Kewell but he was nowhere near as effective as his compatriot in the home side. On one occasion he did a brilliant 180 degree turn to claim possession then didn't follow it up by doing the simple thing and running towards the goal.
He is very much becoming the scapegoat when things aren't going well in an attacking sense and if he doesn't pull his finger out soon, will be up there with Heskey in the laziness stakes. His one effort on goal was a curler that Friedel dived to save but replays show it was going well wide anyway.
Blackburn had sent on ex Huddersfield striker John Stead to try and win the game for them and he brought about a great one handed save from Kirkland in the 74th minute. Kirkland then made a tremendous point blank range save from Paul Dickov, in a frantic spell which also saw a goal line clearance. After this brief flurry came to nothing though, Blackburn sat back, satisfied with their point.
Benitez then took off Didi Hamman with ten minutes left and replaced him with Salif Diao, much to the bemusement of fans. Diao, who has threatened to leave after his goal at Millwall went to his head, was awful. His first three contributions were a misplaced header, a misplaced pass and a mistimed tackle.
He did absolutely nothing to convince Benitex he is worth even a place on the bench, let alone one in the starting line up. Why he is in ahead of Igor Biscan baffles me.
It was Liverpool who had the upper hand in the final moments as Riise tested Friedel from a similar angle which he scored from and a Garcia effort was deflected wide. Despite a few corners in injury time, we never looked like scoring and on the whole a draw was probably a fair reflection.
A draw leaves us in sixth place after the weekends games were completed. It's hard to seriously believe Everton, Bolton and Boro will stay where they are and I expect the top six to have a more familiar feel about it soon.
Benitez though must be wondering just how many black cats he has run over since arriving in L4. First he lost Owen, then Nunes got injured on day one, then Gerrard got injured. Now Cisse gets injured on the day Mista signs a new deal for Valencia.
Given all the hurdles he has to jump, to finish third, one place ahead of last season will be a fantastic achievement this time around. The way we are playing, it's still well within our grasp as well.
Liverpool: Kirkland, Josemi, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Finnan (Kewell), Hamman (Diao), Alonso, Riise; Baros, Cisse (Garcia):
Agree or disagree? Email me at steve@liverpoolway.co.uk
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