Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

'Beni's Babes' produced a fitting tribute to the legend that was 'Crazy Horse', with a performance full of commitment and determination to dump holders Middlesborough out of the Carling Cup.

The attributes that made Emlyn Hughes one of the club's greatest ever servants were in evidence all evening from a young Liverpool side who's effort and enthusiasm allowed them to overcome what was- on paper at least - stronger opposition.

Boro weren't at full strength, but their line up was a lot closer to their usual first team than ours was. As he did against Millwall, Benitez made wholesale changes to the team which had played the previous weekend.

For Boro, Hasselbaink, Southgate, Boeteng and Schwarzer were all missing, but Zenden, Viduka, Job, Riggott, Quedrue, Cooper, Doriva and Downing are all regular first teamers, and this was very much a Premiership side we were facing.

Make no mistake, Boro were taking this competition very seriously having won the trophy last season, and this was a terrific result for the reds' second string.

Only Djimi Traore and perhaps Steve Finnan can consider themslves first team regulars, but the hunger of youth combined with the experience of the likes of Dudek and Henchoz was enough to see Benitez's side through to the next round.

In the opening twenty minutes or so Liverpool were excellent, with the mercurial Biscan involved in everything. Igor's ability to carry the ball through midfield and get away from challenges gives our play another dimension, and hopefully he'll get another chance to show it on Saturday.

The crowd are really responding to him too, and the regular 'Eeeeeegor' chants emanating from the Kop were sincere and heartfelt. There have been times when that chant was somewhat sarcastic, but not at the moment.

Igor is genuinely impressing people these days, and twice in the opening period of the game he displayed his new found confidence by testing Carlo Nash from distance.

He also created a great opening for Potter, but the young midfielder wastfully blazed the ball high over the bar.

Mellor then should have scored with a header from a pinpoint Warnock cross after Sinama had been denied by Nash. That opening also came about from excellent work from Biscan.

After that initial period of pressure, Liverpool faded slightly and the visitors got back into the game. Zenden had a goal ruled out for offside, and tv replays have since proved he was onside.

However, I was sat in line with the incident and I thought he was offside at the time, so I can sympathise with the linesman. It was a borderline decision, which it turns out was wrong.

However, there was a definite offside seconds before it, which he didn't give. When Viduka tried to play the ball through to Morrison, the winger was offside and should have been flagged. But Whitbread cut the ball out, so perhaps that was why the linesman never gave it.

But the loose ball went straight back to Viduka, who then played in Zenden who scored. So McClaren can bitch and moan all he likes, but if the linesman had flagged when he should have for the initial offside there wouldn't even be an argument. In this case, two wrongs did make a right.

Stephen Warnock had enjoyed an excellent first half, and put in several teasing crosses which on another day would have resulted in goals.

He faded in the second half though, and looked a bit tired to me. He hasn't had many games lately and it showed as the match wore on and he was eventually replaced by Riise. Sinama-Pongolle also tired and had to be replaced after suffering cramp.

His replacement was Richie Partridge, and it was great to see him back in the first team after such a long absence. It's four years since he last featured in a senior game, which is almost unbelievable.

Richie is an exciting player, who should have been used more than he has been. Injuries have held him back, but there have been times when he should have been given opportunities to play but wasn't.

He did himself no harm with a lively cameo, including an assist for the opening goal and a good shout for a penalty when he was tripped by Quedrue.

John Welsh also got on, and immediately began looking the part with his crisp passing and chasing and harrying in the middle of the park. He replaced Salif Diao, who did his plummeting reputation little good with another ineffectual display.

The Senegalese midfielder was relatively neat and tidy in the opening half, but he was woeful after the break. It was no surprise to see him replaced, and hopefully Welsh or Partridge will start in his place in the next round.

Boro were more of a threat in the second half, but could find no way past Dudek. The Pole made one brilliant stop from a stunning Doriva volley, and Zenden somehow headed over from virtually on the goalline after Dudek had misjudged a corner.

But Liverpool counter attacked well, and Mellor had a few sights of goal before he eventually opened the scoring. He put one snapshot over when he maybe should have taken a touch first. Then he put a long range effort just over the bar before then testing Nash with a low left foot shot after creating space for himself.

He kept going though, and got his reward when Potter and Partridge combined to create an opening for him. He showed good pace to get there before Nash, and then produced a deft finish to dink the ball over the keeper into the net at the Kop end.

It was a great moment for him, and I was delighted for the lad. The icing on the cake arrived when Potter challenged Zenden, and Mellor latched onto a loose ball before beating Nash with a powerful left foot shot with the aid of a slight defelction.

Two goals at the Kop end, and that's three goals from six starts for Liverpool. Not a bad record, and one that certainly puts his strike partner Sinama-Pongolle in the shade.

Regular readers of this site and the fanzine will know I'm one of the Boy Mellor's biggest fans, and it bothers me to hear people slagging him off when they've barely seen him play. "He wasn't good enough for West Ham so he isn't good enough for us" you'll hear them say.

Fuck what happened at West Ham. There are plenty of reasons why he struggled there, but he has always scored goals for Liverpool at every level he's played, from youth team, u19's, reserves and now first team.

The great thing about Mellor is that he is ALWAYS a goal threat. Whenever he plays, he gets chances. That's because his movement is so good, and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time. His finishing ability was recently descibed by Ian Rush as 'second to none' which is high praise indeed.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I reckon I must have seen Mellor play close to 80 games at various levels. He's probably got 70+ goals in those games, which is phenomenal.

When I first started watching him I freely admit I thought he was crap. I can understand up to a point why some have been writing him off, as I didn't see anything in him at first either.

He appears ungainly, doesn't look the quickest or most athletic (he is much quicker than he looks), and if you watch him on a day when he doesn't score you probably won't be too impressed.

But the more you watch him, the more you look past his ungainliness and the more his attributes begin to show. You can't help but warm to his attitude and hunger for goals.

I've stated for some time now that if Mellor was given a run of games in the first team he would score goals. I've got absolutely no doubt about it. Whether his all round game is as good as our other strikers is another matter, but he will score goals if he's given enough playing time.

The worry I've had with him this season is that he's looked a bit anxious, a bit too eager to impress. Even in the reserves he's missed chances he'd normally bury. It took him a while to regain full fitness after missing pre-season, and he knows how important this season is for him. It's now or never, and he's been putting a lot of pressure on himself because of that.

Hopefully the goals against Boro will relieve some of that pressure and he'll relax a little bit more now. I think he should start alongside Baros on Saturday, but I doubt that he will. Hope I'm wrong though.

Mellor will get all the headlines for his double strike, and rightly so as he deserves it after being written off by many. But this was an excellent team display and there were top class performances all over the park.

Finnan and Traore were excellent, and kept Boro's promising young wingers Downing and Morrison extremely quiet. Finnan has really won me over this season, and is now looking like the player we thought we were getting when he arrived from Fulham 18 months ago.

Downing got no change out of him at all, and the Irish full back's distributiuon and coolness in possession also caught the eye. He's a tidy little player and in my opinion should be first choice for the right back spot.

As for Traore, well the transformation in him is remarkable. I've always thought he was decent cover at centre half, but I've never rated him as a left back. I have to say he's proving me wrong, and he is now starting to look like a really good player.

I was sat in the Paddock for this game, and had a close up view of Djimi. He's a completely different player these days. He's extremely self assured, doesn't panic on the ball and on current form few wingers are going to get the better of him.

Whether he can keep it up or not remains to be seen, but the decision by Rafa not to let him (and Finnan) join the blues on deadline day is now looking like a masterstroke.

Defensively the reds were excellent, with Henchoz handling Viduka very well and showing a great attitude once more. I love Steph, and it's a shame he isn't a regular anymore. His attitude in these games has been spot on, and he's been a big help to Zak Whitbread.

Zak had another good game, and did nothing wrong other than a couple of stray passes out of defence. That's to be expected though, and in the two games Whitbread has played he's been very solid.

Potter did ok on the right, but just like against Millwall he looked far happier in the centre, and was once again involved in two goals after moving into the middle.

It was a really enjoyable night, and it was good to see so many of the first team in the stands to offer their support. It's nice to see them taking an interest, and suggests that there's a good spirit in the camp these days.

The draw hasn't been kind (did anyone else think that whole draw was fixed?) and threw up probably the toughest game we could have had. Spurs are the one team in it who will be fielding their strongest side as they have nothing else to play for.

I fear it could be the end of the road for our lads, as it will be a massive task for them to overcome Tottenham's first eleven. But if Mellor can keep on scoring and Igor can keep on ruling, then who knows!

Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Henchoz, Whitbread, Traore; Potter, Diao (Welsh), Biscan, Warnock (Riise); Mellor, Sinama-Pongolle (Partridge):

Agree or disagree? Email me at dave@liverpoolway.co.uk

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