Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

If anyone was still in any doubt about the importance of Milan Baros to this Liverpool side, they won't be after this latest sensational display from the Czech.

At this moment in time, Milan is undoubtedly the most important player at the club bar none. We've coped without Gerrard for two months, we coped without Alonso in La Coruna and we could probably deal with the loss of any other individual. Except Milan that is.

Last weekend in his absence, the reds lost at home to Birmingham. Had he played, we'd surely have won and been three points better off in the table. Today he did play, and almost single-handedly won us the points. That's how much of a difference he makes to us.

Palace, like so many other teams this season, simply couldn't contain him. He ran them ragged, and nobody has ever deserved a hat-trick more than Milly did in this game. He wasn't even 100% fit, and Benitez admitted afterwards he contemplated bringing him off with around half an hour or so left.

At that stage Baros was struggling, but he got through it and was still going strong in the final minute when he burst through to earn the match winning penalty. In my opinion, you won't see a better performance from a striker all season, unless it's from Baros himself, which is a distinct possibility.

If there's a striker in better form this season than Milly, I haven't seen him. I wrote several weeks ago that he wasn't getting anything like the recognition he deserved, either from the media or from certain sections of his own support. That's still the case now, even after this game.

Why some choose to focus on perceived weaknesses in his game rather than extol the wonderful attributes he has I have no idea, but it has been going on all season and will no doubt continue. There's none so blind as those that won't see.

It is an absolute privilege to watch Milan Baros play. His control, touch, movement, quick feet, dribbling ability and amazing appetite and work ethic make him the most exciting player in the country at the moment (along with Robben at Chelsea I'll grudgingly admit).

Palace, like every other side to face Baros recently, had to resort to foul measures to stop him, and it was disappointing to hear them complaining afterwards and accusing Milan of going to ground too easily.

He won two penalties himself, could (should?) have had another, and was the victim of numerous mistimed, clumsy and occasionally cynical challenges throughout the game.

There's a reason why Milan is probably the most fouled striker in the country, and it's not because he's a diver like Rooney or Van Cheatingtit.

It's because he runs with the ball, commits defenders and has such quick feet that often there's no option for them but to bring him down, intentionally or otherwise.

It can certainly be argued that he invites challenges from defenders before using his skill to shift the ball out of their reach and drawing the foul. But last time I checked there was no rule against that.

The first penalty was a perfect example of this. Milan waited for the defender to come in and commit himself before he nudged it past him and was then flattened. Palace complained, but it was a stonewall pen.

As soon as the ref pointed to the spot, Anfield held it's breath, wondering who would step forward and take responsibility. Rumours have been doing the rounds since the beginning of the season that Carra would be our new regular penalty taker following the departures of Owen and Murphy in the summer, but initially it looked like Kewell wanted it.

Thankfully he handed the ball to Baros. I wouldn't have fancied Kewell to score, and the way he's been playing lately a penalty miss would have been the last thing he needed.

Baros was the logical choice, as he has been amongst the goals all season and his confidence is high. Not even the gamesmanship of the Palace keeper (some dodgy foreign bloke in pyjama bottoms who's name I neither know nor care) could put him off, as he calmly sent him the wrong way to register his 8th goal of the season (pictured below).

Soon after, Baros burst through once more and appeared to be pulled back as he advanced on goal. Having awarded one spot kick, the ref seemed reluctant to award another to the same player so soon after, and waved play on much to the fury of Milan and forty odd thousand reds inside the stadium.

The Palace players weren't happy with Baros, and every time a free kick was awarded for a foul on the reds number 5, they were complaining about 'diving'.

The most bizarre incident was when Kolkka caught Baros with a late challenge, and then spat his dummy completely, throwing himself to the floor in a mock gesture. He should have been booked for it, but wasn't.

Palace had just drawn level seconds earlier, courtesy of a great strike by Kolkka. Kirkland had no chance as the ball flew past him from a tight angle into the top corner. Josemi has to be questioned for his part however.

The Spanish full back has been very unconvincing of late, and has struggled with even the most average of opponents. Beating beaten by Ronaldo, Giggs and Duff is almost acceptable given that he's new to the league and will need time to adjust to his new surroundings.

But when the likes of Henrik Pedersen, Brett Emerton, Julian Gray etc are getting the better of him, then surely Rafa has to say enough is enough and restore Steve Finnan to the right back berth?

The reds restored their lead just before the break when Alonso's deep free kick was superbly squared across the face of goal by Kewell, presenting Baros with a simple tap in.

We deserved to be in front, even if we hadn't hit top form. Some of the football played was pleasing on the eye, but often it led to nothing. Alonso and Hamann were controlling the midfield, but Garcia was having one of those wasteful days he seems to be having more and more of lately, and although Kewell was showing better form than he has been, Baros was the only real threat to the visitors.

The second half began with Liverpool rampaging forward with wave after wave of attacks. Baros was causing havoc every time he got the ball, and the midfield were closing down so high up the pitch that Palace could hardly get out of their own half.

But then somehow Palace levelled the scores once more. Good work by Watson – excellent throughout I thought – released Kolkka and from his cross Hughes headed past Kirkland.

It's so frustrating but it seems that teams only have to register a shot on target these days and it results in a goal. I'm not blaming Kirkland by any means, but nevertheless teams only seem to need to create one chance to score against us at the moment.

Birmingham had two openings last week, and scored from one. Palace had two and scored from both.

Liverpool pushed forward looking to win the game, and Alonso and Riise (pictured below) both went close from distance.

But it was obvious we were running out of ideas, and changes needed to be made. With Biscan, Mellor and Sinama-Pongolle all on the bench, Steve Finnan appeared to be the least likely attacking option.

Yet he was the one Rafa turned to first, and once again the Irishman was very impressive on the right hand side, producing some excellent close control and delivering one absolutely delicious cross which should have produced a goal.

Riise had done ok, and others may have deserved the hook more than him, but that doesn't excuse the time it took him to leave the field once his number was shown. That's two weeks in a row now, and it's pissing me off. It's OUR own time he is wasting.

Mellor was brought on too, in place of the struggling Josemi. The young striker could consider himself unlucky not to have started the game after his midweek showing, but in fairness I thought Kewell did enough to justify his selection in the side.

Harry needed to show something against Palace, as the fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with him. A bad performance here and he would have been hammered by everyone. I wouldn't exactly say this was his last chance, but he certainly couldn't afford a display like the one last week against Birmingham.

As it was, he did ok. He wasn't outstanding, but he was involved in two of the goals and when he moved out to the left wing in the second half, he regularly ran at his man and managed to get some crosses in. It was better, but there's still a lot more to come from him hopefully.

With the clock ticking, Liverpool were becoming increasingly desperate. Baros had looked like he would have to be replaced as he was shattered. For a few minutes he looked almost human. But then his second wind came and he was back to his turbo charged self.

His reward arrived in the final minute, when good pressing once more allowed us to regain possession in the middle of the park, and Kewell advanced forward before sliding a fine ball into the ever willing Baros' path.

As he had done all game, Milan chose not to take the early shot and instead continued to run with the ball. Once more he saw the tackle coming, touched the ball away from the defender and was then brought down. He has got it down to a fine art, but he is doing nothing wrong and it's totally unfair to suggest he is.

I bet whoever referees our game next week at Boro gives him nothing though after Dowie's comments. Prior to today I've had nothing but admiration for Ian Dowie and the job he has done. But his attitude towards Baros smacked of being a sore loser, the ugly 'Sloth from the Goonies' looking prick.

When the referee awarded the penalty, initially a few of the players were looking around at eachother to see who would take it. But Carragher pointed at Milan, and that settled it.

Once more the keeper tried to put him off, and was this time yellow carded for his actions. It all added to the pressure on Baros though, and such was the delay that by the time he stepped up to take the kick we had entered stoppage time.

I was convinced he'd miss, as I'm sure a lot of you were. He almost did, as this time the keeper went the right way, but luckily the kick had enough to power to find the corner despite the keeper getting a hand on it.

Anfield erupted, Baros went nuts, we'd picked up an unlikely - but well deserved – three points, and Milan was going home with the match ball.

I realise that whole match report has been little more than a tribute to the brilliance of Milan Baros, but this was almost a one man show. Without him, we'd have lost this game, just as we did last week.

Instead, we collected a win which proved to be all the more crucial with all the teams around us also picking up points.

There were other good performers to be fair. Carragher was excellent once more, Alonso and Hamann both played very well and Traore had another solid game. But this was the Milan Baros show, and I make no apologies for going on about his brilliance. After all, someone has to!

 

Team: Kirkland; Josemi (Mellor), Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Garcia, Alonso, Hamann, Riise (Finnan); Kewell, Baros (Sinama-Pongolle):

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

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