It was very much a game of two halves against City as Liverpool finished what has been a year to forget in frustrating fashion. A last minute equaliser by ex Red Robbie Fowler denied us the three points, but in reality they would not have been deserved.
This was our first trip to the fantastic City of Manchester Stadium. It is an impressive venue that looks good, offered excellent sightlines and has so much leg room that when I got up for a piss nobody needed to stand up to let me out.
City got this 48,000 capacity venue for nothing off Manchester City Council, who even went to the trouble of converting it to a football stadium after the Commonwealth Games. All City have to do in return is pay the council a percentage of any gate receipts from crowds over 34,000. It's in stark contrast to the treatment Liverpool FC have received from our local council as we have sought to build a new stadium in Stanley Park and regenerate the local area at the same time.
Perhaps the Reds players were so in awe of their surroundings that they totally forgot they were meant to be playing a football match in the first half. It ranked as one of the worst 45 minutes we've ever seen under Houllier, and there are plenty to choose from.
Our first attempt on goal didn't come till the 40th minute when Kewell had a shot deflected away for a corner. Seconds before the whistle for half time we had our first meaningful chance when Murphy had a shot well saved.
By then we were lucky not to be more than 1-0 down. Only some poor finishing by Fowler prevented our defensive lapses being punished. City may have been on a nine game winless streak but they weren't playing like it. They were confidently sweeping the ball around and our defence was all over the place.
In the ninth minute we should have conceded a penalty when Biscan appeared to handle on the edge of the box. Referee Mike Riley waved play on but he wasn't so generous on the half hour when he adjudged that Riise had hauled down Fowler in the box after a corner. From where I sat it looked harsh but television replays show the right decision was made. Nicolas Anelka made no mistake with his kick and an avalanche really did seem on the cards.
Houllier had been so concerned that moments earlier he had taken off Jon Otsemobor and sent on Stephane Henchoz. 'Semmy' had made a few bad passes but it was very unfair to take him off so early in the game. He was no worse than anyone else on the pitch and Houller's reasoning, that he wasn't very good offensively was a bizarre one when you consider Biscan moved from centre to right back.
Biscan is not a marauding right winger and offered a strange choice to make for a right back who is expected to get forward. In addition he kept drifting into his natural position in the middle leaving us exposed down his flank. What the substitution did was probably destroy a youngsters confidence, but as he came through the academy and hadn't been bought for millions by the manager then it's no surprise.
Houllier is on a self preservation exercise at the moment and doesn't care who he upsets.
Prior to City's goal Houllier had been very animated, spending most of the time in the technical area trying to gee the players up. But once we were behind he sat down in his seat and didn't get up again for the rest of the half.
Dave mentioned this in the Southampton report, having taken on board my observations in earlier games. When a team is behind they need inspiration from the manager, but once again he offered none. I haven't got good enough eyesight to see Houllier's facial expressions from behind the goal but my guess is he was muttering to himself as usual.
Phil Thompson took on the mantle of touchline motivation, clapping, whistling and pointing at anything and everything. If it wasn't so cold and such a long walk back to the city centre I really would have left at half time if I could have, it was that bad.
But there must have been some fireworks in the dressing room at half time as some of our players came out in the second half as if their lives depended on it. In the first ten minutes Riise, Kewell and Smicer all had shots on goal and H****y also had a great chance, only to head over when it would have been easier to score. That was his last contribution to the game, although he did remain on the pitch till the end.
Liverpool's record signing was very fortunate to be in the team at all, but Houllier had deemed Pongolle needed a rest after playing 66 minutes on Friday. For most of the second half the Reds fans were singing Pongolle's name, which probably explains why we didn't see him till as late as the 76th minute.
Houllier doesn’t like being told what to do by fans, especially when they have replaced his name in the 'Allez Allez' chant with Pongolle's.
City were still creating chances themselves and there was a nervy moment when Dudek spilled a Fowler shot but luckily Hyypia was on hand to clear before Anelka could get to the ball. Kewell then deserved an equaliser on 63 minutes when he cut in from the left but his effort was well saved by Seaman.
Just a minute later we were level with a rare Smicer header from a corner. It was a deserved equaliser on the basis of our second half performance and there was every reason to suspect at this point that we could go on and win the game.
For the next fifteen minutes we kept pressing forward and Diouf missed a couple of good opportunities, one of them when he blazed over after creating a good chance for himself. After a good start to the season he has been disappointing of late and his form in front of goal is very worrying, especially when you consider he was actually bought as a striker.
Then on 80 minutes we took the lead with a brilliant dipping strike from 25 yards by Hamman. As soon as I saw Seaman off his line I thought he'd hit it and I was right. Although not comparable with the World Cup or Nayim clangers, it was a great sight to see him fall dejectedly into the net. The celebrations amongst players and fans were wild, very much on a 'we've got out of jail' scale.
City fans have seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory countless times and consequently the stadium half emptied. At this point it was hard to see any other outcome than a Liverpool win. We didn't sit back and kept going forward, with a great opportunity being wasted when Diouf screwed the ball wide after being set up by Pongolle.
However there was always the fear at the back of the mind that something may come back to haunt us. Dudek had looked a little suspect on occasions, causing Anelka to try his luck form the halfway one at one point. Then he could only parry a Sibierski free kick with seven minutes left but was able to gather it at the second attempt.
In injury time City got an equaliser they deserved when the whole 90 minutes is taken into account. Anelka let fly from long range and Dudek beat out the shot but only as far as Sinclair. He drove the ball back goalwards and Fowler prodded in from six yards. The reaction amongst our fans wasn't one of anger or despondency, just one of resigned acceptance that such an event was inevitable.
Fowler has had a fairly torrid time with injuries and loss for form since leaving Anfield so I'm glad for him that he got a good confidence boost. However anyone who points to him scoring against us as reason why he shouldn't have been sold is deluding themselves. To get £13 million for him was a master stroke and although he was lively in this game, City fans I have spoken to since he signed for them haven't been impressed with him.
On the whole a draw was probably a fair result. Had we won it would have papered over too many cracks, but a defeat would have been unfortunate given the fluidity of our second half performance. All in all I'm glad to see the back of 2003, as far as Liverpool FC are concerned.
Here's to a better 2004, but I'm not too confident it will be unless Houllier changes some of his ways very soon.
