Before this game Rafa Benitez promised that Liverpool would attack the Manchester City backline. He lied. He also promised that Torres would not be involved at all. He lied again. Torres returned on the bench for the Reds, and came on for the last 15 minutes, but not even his cameo performance could inspire anything out of the dullest of encounters.
The importance of this game was evident as both managers sent out teams designed to avoid defeat, rather than going out and grabbing control of the game and taking all 3 points, despite of the obvious value in winning such a critical match. For City it would have opened up a 4 point gap between them and Rafa's Reds (and possibly 7 if they win their game in hand), and for Liverpool 3 points would have boosted belief amongst supporters, and in the sqaud, in their push for a top 4 finish, and take them 2 points above the Blue Mancs.
Rafa started with what looked like an attacking side, with Babel, Maxi and Kuyt all starting. However the team failed to show any creativity and cutting edge, which is what many supporters have been saying for weeks now. Kuyt laboured, as he always does, but lacks the physical strength to cope in the lone striker role, and Maxi needs time to settle into the Premier League, and, more specifically, Liverpool's style of play, which is concentrated on defence at the moment.
Babel was given a rare start following a tremendous 30 minute cameo performance at home to Unirea in the Europa League but failed to show anything of real quality, once again. It seems that every chance Babel gets to impose himself on the first 11, he squanders with yet another anonoymous performance. Admittedly he was feeding off scraps, but, all the same, it was still a very disappointing, if not surprising display from the young Dutch striker.
There was little to lift the boredom in the first half as both sides looked to control the game. Unfortunately for the supporters, this meant watching both teams passing backwards then sideways, then back to the keeper. It was dire stuff, the type of game you'd expect Bolton and Wigan to produce on a wet Monday night at the DW Stadium.
The first half-chance fell to Maxi, when he got on the end of Gerrard's cross, however, the Spaniard failed to steer the ball goalwards, instead hitting the ball wide. Kuyt could have also got a toe on the superb cross, which would have been enough to give the visitors the lead.
Liverpool nearly gifted Manchester City the opener on 35 minutes after they messed around with the ball in and around their own 18 yard box, allowing Adebayor to steal the ball and set up Ireland, who failed to shoot at goal, before the move broke down as the Reds got bodies behind the ball.
The best chance during the whole game fell to Martin Skrtel on the stroke of half time. Liverpool were wrongly awarded a corner as the officials thought the ball rebounded off a City player when it actually came off the Slovakian. Gerrard whipped in an inviting corner and, from 6 yards out, Skrtel headed inches wide, narrowly missing the opportunity to score his second goal for the Reds against City, and his second goal for the Reds overall.
The second half wasn't much better as both teams were still held back in attack by a desire to cling onto the safety of a 0-0 draw. It was slightly better than the first period, largely due to the fact that Torres, Benayoun and Bellamy were all introduced to the play, however the game still failed to produce any real chances for either side to steal what would have been an undeserved 3 points.
Ireland put the ball wide of goal from 8 yards out early on in the second half, when he was judged to be offside, however replays showed that the last touch came off Insua. It was a poor miss from the attacking midfielder, especially in a tight match where chances are at a premium, and it was an awful decision by the match officials to call him offside when the last touch was from a Liverpool player.
City tested Reina for the first time on the hour, as Adebayor's fierce strike from the edge of the box forced Reina into an impressive save. There were suspicions of handball when Adebayor was controlling the ball, however these were ignored by referee Peter Walton.
Adebayor was at the centre of everything the home side were doing in attack, and he had several opportunities to give his side the lead as they started to dominate the second period. His, and City's, best chance came when a long ball bounced over both Skrtel and Agger and sent the Togo striker clean through on goal. Astoundingly, Skrtel, who was voted Man of the Match by voters on the official club webstie, managed to recover in time to get a foot in and push the ball behind for a corner, just as Adebayor was about to fire City into the lead.
Following this, Adebayor headed over the bar when Kompany put Bellamy's corner back into the 6 yard area. It was a good chance and he should have done better, but at least he was putting in the effort to try and grab a winner, unlike many of the Liverpool team, who seemed content with a point.
For once this season Liverpool had some vital decisions go in their favour during the second half, as Adebayor was clearly shoved in the box by Agger, and should have been awarded a penalty, but it wasn't given. On top of that, Mascherano should have received a second yellow for a horrible tackle on Barry, that could have been a straight red, however no card was shown.
Mascherano is the type of no nonesense, strong tackling and hard working player that are vital for all succesful clubs, especially Liverpool, and he fits in very well with our style of play, which is based around dominance of possession and lots of determined hard work, however his indiscipline has cost the Reds in the past, for example at Old Trafford a couple of season's ago, and must be curbed or he could be suspended for crucial matches during the run in to the end of the season.
Liverpool had a chance to steal a victory in the dying moments, when the skillful winger Yossi Benayoun, who was returning following a broken rib suffered in the FA Cup replay against Reading, was unbalanced as he brushed past Vincent Kompany in the penalty area. If he had gone down it could have been a penalty, but i think he did the right thing by staying on his feet. His team mates will be telling him to go down next time to try and earn a penalty, however, for the good of the British game, i hope he doesn't as, in England, we don't celebrate cheating.
With hindsight a point at Eastlands isn't a bad result, as they're undefeated at home since April 2009, and have spent big on star names during the summer. Moreover, a point keeps Liverpool right in the middle of the race for 4th spot, whereas a defeat would have damaged morale considerably and, on top of City winning their game in hand, could have seen Liverpool sink 7 points behind the Blue Mancs.
As it is, Liverpool are now only a point behind Tottenham, who sit 4th, but with the best run in Rafa and his troops can be confident of having top level European football to look forward to next season, provided they keep up the hard work and defensive solidity, whilst also adding attacking flair, which should come from the likes of Benayoun, Torres and Johnson, who are all returning from long spells on the treatment table.
YNWA
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