Liverpool cemented their advantage in the race for fourth place as two second half goals saw off a lively Middlesbrough side on a sunny day at Anfield.
Just as it did last week, Danny Murphy's spot kick prowess proved decisive, as his unerringly accurate kick edged his side in front after Owen had been felled, and substitute H*skey sealed the win with a close range finish shortly after.
At that point the reds were threatening to bury the visitors, who's heads went down after falling behind, but as usual, Houllier and Thompson were up off the bench telling the players to settle for what they had and the final twenty minutes of this game were dreadful.
That's so frustrating, as at times Liverpool played some excellent football today. The side flew out of the traps and the first five minutes were frantic. It was actually like a big European game, as the crowd noise was as impressive as it has been all year and the players were piling forward and snapping into tackles.
Led by Gerrard, Liverpool chased, harried and showed an appetite for closing down the opposition which has so often been lacking this term. The crowd responded, and the atmosphere was nothing like anything we've had for months.
Some may argue that the players responded to the crowd, I'd say it was the other way round. Liverpool's start was so enthusiastic and so high tempo that it got the fans into the game right from the start, something which is as rare these days as an El Hadji Diouf goal or a Harry Kewell tackle.
Kewell's form of late has been cause for great concern, not only for the fans but for the player himself, who has freely admitted he's been playing crap and has offered no excuses. That honesty is refreshing, but counts for nothing when it looks as though the effort isn't there.
Fans will often accept players showing poor form provided the work rate and effort is there, but to often this season that hasn't been the case with Harry. But today he began the game like the proverbial house on fire. Playing in a forward role just off Michael Owen, the Aussie twice stung the palms of his international team-mate Swartzer with rasping left foot drives as Liverpool poured forward.
The impressive Riise went agonisisngly close with a low drive, as the reds threw everything forward in a manner which was so refreshing to see. Too often we don't see this type of drive and positive thinking until we're a goal behind, but against Boro the attacking intent was there from the first whistle.
No-one typified this approach more than the full backs. Riise of course needs no second invitation to get forward, but Carragher too was bombing down the line regularly, and produced one brilliant run and cross which fizzed across the six yard box but eluded everybody. It was the ball of the game, and deserved better.
But the longer the half went, the more Boro got back into it and it was end to end stuff. Hyypia and Henchoz were exposed a few times, but both defended resolutely, with the Swiss particularly impressive before being replaced at half time with a groin injury.
Job was proving to be a handful, and Zenden was particularly lively in the first half, but Maccarone was very disappointing and failed to make the most of several good situations. Steve McClaren's best performer though was unquestionably George Boeteng, who was outstanding throughout.
Boro's tactics seemed to centre around waiting for our attacks to break down, and then break quickly using Zenden and Medieta. Job and Maccarone would pull out wide into the space left by the rampaging Riise, and it was a ploy which looked as though it could pay dividends for them. Thankfully it didn't, largely due to their toothless front pairing.
Mendietta curled a free-kick just wide (below) after Hyypia had been adjudged to have brought down Maccarrone, although it looked like a dive from where I was sat.
Job should have put Boro in front when the ball fell at his feet no more than ten yards out, but his shot was superbly saved by the feet of Dudek. It was a huge let off, but Boro were also fortunate not to go behind when Owen struck the post after picking up a lovely flick from the otherwise ineffective Smicer.
Michael was lively throughout, and was desperately unfortunate to see his well struck shot hit the base of the far post with Schwarzer well beaten.
Murphy then brought a routine stop out of Swarzer with a free kick from 25 yards (below), although the keeper made a bit of a meal of it and almost spilled it over his own line. Just like the Fulham game a couple of weeks ago, it was an open contest with the away side more than playing their part in an entertaining game.
The game swung Liverpool's way on the penalty incident. Riggott's challenge was clumsy and he was always running the risk of conceding a spot kick, and referee Andy D'Urso had no hesitation in awarding Liverpool's 15th penalty of the season. Of course, if you ask Gerard Houllier we should have had double that many, but that's another story.
There was little doubt as to which corner Murphy would put the ball, but knowing where its going and being able to save it are two different things. Like Tim Howard last week, Schwarzer guessed correctly but was beaten by the accuracy of Murphy's kick, which went in off the inside of the post. Unstoppable.
The goal seemed to rock the visitors, and gave Liverpool an extra spring in their step. Houllier had made a double substitution at half time, bringing on H*skey and Finnan for Smicer and Henchoz, and that decision was vindicated when Kewell played in Owen, and his flick fell invitingly for H*skey to sidefoot past Schwarzer from inside the penalty area.
That should have been the cue for the reds to take Boro to the cleaners. With nothing to play for except pride, the Teessiders looked to have given up the ghost. But with Liverpool once again falling back into their sideways and backwards passing routing, Boro began pressing forward again, although without any real conviction it has to be said.
Carragher slotted into the middle of the back four effortlessly, and immediately began shouting at the rest of the defence to push up. Too often the reds backline sits deep when we're in front, and it just invited pressure. We've seen it happen countless times, but Carragher was determined to keep them holding a high line, and Dudek's goal was hardly threatened despite the glut of possession enjoyed by Boro.
As we're always told, at this stage of the season the points are all that matters, and entertainment is secondary. Unfortunately under Houllier, entertainment is not part of the agenda whatever stage of the season it is. He'll argue that he was right to shut up shop at 2-0. I'd argue that our goal difference is not that significantly better than Newcastle's that we can afford to be so complacent.
It's so tight that it could come down to goal difference, and we may yet live to regret those games where we've sat back and protected one and two goal leads instead of trying to run up more goals.
Chances are it won't come to that because Newcastle are so bad away from home, but this was a game where at 2-0 Boro had more or less given up, and we could have scored another couple quite easily had we shown the same urgency we had when the scores were goalless.
For the most part, the performance was pretty good without being anything special. The start was exceptional, but the longer it went there was very little difference between the sides until the penalty. Boro are a decent side however, and despite their lack of a cutting edge they were always going to present stern opposition.
So overall we have to be pleased with some of the football we saw, and especially with the way the players started the game so quickly.
Carragher, Owen and Hamann played very well, Kewell was much improved but can still do a lot more, whilst Riise continued his recent return to form with another good performance. Hyypia and Dudek also did all that was required of them very well.
One thing which alarms me at the moment is that Milan Baros hasn't got on the field at all in our last two games. Everyone knows that H*skey is on his way this summer providing we can find anyone foolish enough to take him off our hands, yet he's still being preferred to Baros.
With talk of Cisse and Smith coming in, where does that leave Milan? A good European Championships and I can't see him still being here next season. He's too good to be constantly overlooked, and if a good club comes in for him this summer I don't see him hanging around here, not under this manager anyway.
Mind you, the same can also be said for Michael Owen.
