It was billed as the day when God returned to heaven, but it was St Nic who stole the headlines as Manchester City became only the second visiting team this season to emerge from Anfield with maximum points.
When Gerard Houllier - for reasons known only to himself - decided not to sign Nicolas Anelka, it was inevitable that at some point the decision would come back to bite him in the ass. Nico had been a virtual spectator in his two previous outings against the reds this season, but reserved his best for when it would do the most damage to the man who snubbed him.
This result ended the reds hopes of finishing third, and means that unless victory is achieved at the Bridge next week, there will be no Champions League football at Anfield next year.
Just as he has all season, Houllier blamed a combination of luck/refereeing decisions/poor finishing for the defeat. There may be an element of truth in that, but eight draws and two defeats at home in a season is not down to luck or referees. The problems are much more deep rooted than that, and if Houllier really wants to get to the root of the problem, I'd suggest he looks in the nearest mirror.
He regularly points to missed chances, but no-one misses more chances than the mancs and Arsenal. Every team misses chances, the difference is some create more than others. United miss a chance, and they think, 'never mind, another will be along in a minute.' We miss one, and the feeling tends to be 'shit, that could prove costly.'
We don't create enough, because a) we're not adventurous enough, b) we don't play enough attacking football, and c) we don't get enough men forward into the box. It's hardly rocket science, but it explains why our home record is so abysmal.
For a soft touch outfit like Manchester City to come to Anfield with nothing to play for except pride, and yet still emerge victorious sums up our entire season. In some ways it was fitting that we did lose, as had we won this game convincingly, it would have papered over the cracks. In truth, this game was an accurate reflection of the previous nine months.
The team should have been flying after hitting West Brom for six last week, but Milan Baros was the only one who looked to have taken last week's form into this game. As well as we played last week, there was always the suspicion that what happened at the Hawthorns said more about the Baggies than it did us, but as I said last week, it would have been churlish not to have given the side credit for that performance.
What today proved however, was that the great attacking play of the previous week was aided and abetted by Albion's makeshift defence. The City backline is hardly watertight, but they coped without too many problems today, as the reds'midfield failed to give the strikers the service which they'd thrived off seven days earlier.
Michael Owen just couldn't get into the game. He worked hard, and when he did have the ball he looked sharp, but he barely got a pass all afternoon. Danny Murphy's importance to the side cannot be underestimated these days, and when SuperDan has an off day like today, the team tend to struggle.
Baros was a constant threat, so much so that Sylvain Distin took it upon himself to produce a series of wrestling holds, the likes of which Hulk Hogan would have been proud, to keep him under control.
Sadly, referee Neil Barry was happy to let Distain use whatever methods he saw fit to try and restrain 'Milly the Bull.' Shirt tugging, arm locks, obstruction and crude kicking were just some of the blatant tricks used by the French defender.
Baros should have been awarded two first half penalties. First he bulldozed his way through Distin and Dunne, and both looked to be tugging him back. The Kop howled for a penalty, Barry waved play on. Shortly afterwards, Baros was wrestled to the floor as a corner was swung into the box by Riise. Amazingly, the award went against the reds' striker.
It wasn't a classic first half by any means, but the presence on the field of Fowler and Anelka was enough to keep things interesting. Anelka could have been sent clear a couple of times but for some sloppy passing by Benarbia, and the threat to the reds rearguard was always there.
Fowler for his part was woeful in the opening 45 minutes. He wasn't on the same wavelength as Anelka at all, and to be honest it was painful to watch him. He was losing his footing all the time, and gave the ball away almost every time he had it. I remarked to the lad sat next to me at half time that I was embarassed for Robbie, and that he looks a spent force.
The second half though he was a different player. Not exactly the old Fowler, but there were glimpses of it. One elusive run across the penalty area and blistering right foot shot which flew just wide was vintage old school Fowler.
Anelka too was looking a threat, and should have given City the lead when he latched onto a through ball and made space for himself before hitting the side netting. The warning was heeded by the reds, who took the lead shortly after.
Fittingly it was Baros who scored, rifling past Schmeichel after good work by the otherwise disappointing Diouf. Schmeichel had been given a generous reception by the Kop in the first half, and the Red Nosed Dane will have enjoyed today a great deal, particularly as he pulled off two world class saves to keep his side in it at 1-0.
The first came from Diouf, and was one of the finest stops I've ever seen. He somehow miraculously managed to tip the Senegal man's left footer up onto the bar before leaping to his feet and plucking the rebound off the head of Baros. He followed that up to deny Baros once more a couple of minutes later, and the save was to prove to be a turning point, as the scores were level soon after.
To describe the equaliser as contentious would be a massive understatement. USloppy play sawDiouf caught in possession, and allowed Benarbia to try and pick out the run of Anelka. From where I was sat, there was no way in a million years Traore fouled Anelka. To me it looked like both players were running into the box, and the ball was played behind them both. As they slowed down, they collided. It was no pen, and certainly nowhere near as bad as the two on Baros which were ignored.
As soon as it was awarded, all eyes were on Fowler. Yet Robbie showed no interest whatsoever. Against anyone else, surely he'd have stepped up, but he took a back seat and allowed Anelka the chance to make a point. He did, with a cool pen which gave Jerzy no chance.
Houllier withdrew Hamann and Diouf, and sent on Heskey and Cheyrou. Unsurprisingly, they made little impact. The subs bench today of Heskey, Cheyrou, Diao and Biscan has to be the most uninspiring set of subs I think I've ever seen. Not one of them is capable of turning a game, and for all the stick he gets, Smicer's presence in the squad was missed today.
Not much happened after that, until a smart move by City saw the effervescent Shaun Wright-Phillips play a one two with Benarbia before feeding Anelka. The left foot half volley finish was emphatic, and will have been a sweet moment for the young Frenchman.
Interestingly, Fowler failed to join in the celebrations for either goal. A class act is Robbie. The City fans chanted 'Bye Bye to the Champions League' whilst half the Anfield crowd sloped off, not bothering to stay for the traditional lap of honour which usually accompanies the final home game of the season.
Whether it is 'bye bye' to the Champions League or not we'll find out next Sunday, but the sooner we can say 'bye-bye' to this season (and dare I say it, the manager) the better.
I went for Baros as the star man because I couldn't really think of anyone else. Gerrard was ok, Carragher had a fine game and Traore did nothing wrong and was unlucky with the penalty, but other than that it was a below par display from the reds.
