Eurosport - Mon, 26 Jan 08:30:00 2009
Liverpool drew 1-1 with Everton at Anfield in the FA Cup fourth round, the Merseyside rivals' second such result in a week.
After Monday's draw in the Premier League, the teams again could not be separated as Joleon Lescott's close-range header was cancelled out by a low Steven Gerrard strike.
The consequence is a third derby, this time at Goodison Park, with a place in the last 16 still at stake for the winners of the replay.
Although Liverpool dominated much of the game, Everton will feel they let their neighbours off the hook, as Gerrard's 54th-minute equaliser came courtesy of a mistake by goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez's commitment to the FA Cup has never been absolute - the Reds' 2006 triumph notwithstanding - but he took this fixture seriously enough to give goalkeeper Pepe Reina only his sixth appearance in the competition in four seasons.
There was another blow to Robbie Keane's rock-bottom confidence as the Irishman was left out of Liverpool's 18-man squad, as Benitez played Fernando Torres as a lone striker with David N'Gog on the bench.
Everton boss David Moyes picked his strongest available side, but that still meant no Mikel Arteta, with the Spanish midfielder sidelined after suffering a rib injury in training.
On Monday, Liverpool lost the lead against Everton after they lost track of Tim Cahill and the Australian headed a late equaliser.
Lightning struck for the second time in six days with 27 minutes gone, as the shortcomings of Benitez's zonal marking system at set-pieces were once again exposed.
Cahill and Lescott are clearly Everton's biggest aerial threats, but both men found enough space to combine for the opening goal. Cahill met Steven Pienaar's corner with a firm header goalwards, and Lescott deflected it to ensure Reina had no chance.
Contrast Liverpool's slackness with the touch-tight marking from Everton, with Phil Jagielka rarely letting Torres beyond his grasp. The Spaniard showed sharpness and some nice touches, but never had the space to show his explosive acceleration or deadly finishing.
It was not all bad from the home side - they enjoyed 70 per cent possession and completed more than three times as many passes as their opponents in the first half. Despite all this, they were unable to muster a goal attempt worthy of the name as Everton keeper Howard's activities were restricted to dawdling over goal-kicks.
Liverpool's frustration was personified by Jamie Carragher, who was so incensed at what he perceived as time-wasting by Howard that he pursued referee Steve Bennett down the tunnel at half-time and earned himself a booking for dissent.
The second half began in much the same pattern, with Liverpool dominant but unable to land a significant blow - then suddenly they were level.
It came from a piece of magic by Torres. The Spaniard collected the ball on his chest just inside the Everton half with his back to goal, and somehow played Gerrard clear with a sublime flick of his left boot.
Gerrard raced through and struck low towards the near post with his left foot. Somehow the ball eluded Howard and fizzed into the net.
Liverpool poured forward in search of a winner. Howard partially redeemed himself with a good save from a Gerrard volley, while Torres had a close-range shot blocked.
But Everton proved too well organised and the tie now travels across Stanley Park to Goodison.
Comment 94 - 113 of 153
Thanks alcock
RC_BALLCOCK.......
RC_HALFCOCK.....
Dr Mark Lunt (Hater of The Merseyside Community)
Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics
University of Manchester
Stopford Building
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PT
RC_smallCOCK.....
Dr Mark Lunt is your hatred of the people of merseyside as strong as ever?
Hello Dr Mark Lunt of the Univesity of Manchester still posting I see.........
Dr Mark Lunt is your hatred of the people of merseyside as strong as ever?
As I understand it one is ivited to comment on the article above. Then why is it that the majority of comments ignore the invitation and seek only to abuse the opposition supporters or the club management?
Hello Dr Mark Lunt of the Univesity of Manchester still posting I see.........
Come on Moyes boys,let´s do the bin-dippers at Goodison
Phil the Fluter-FV The Toffee man
go toffees!!!
james s. chelsea will beat you next week and your title hopes will be gone, then when you play arsenal and man utd you'll be left fighting it out with villa for 4th place. everton will win the replay cos they wil have strikers back by then.
dry your eyes rafa remember this, when man utd win the league by 1 point just remember who took the 2 points last monday night haha super mersey blues
invalid comment? cox and fannis, blo jobs, invalid comment that.
marklunt636, I wouldn;t give any foreign player or manager grief about not being able to speak proper english because the majority of England cannot speak proper english. Seen the school drop out rate recently??? Oh, since you a MAn U supporter, I don't hear you moaning about Ferguson's second in command-Carlos Q.
farrellvelloza, i have actually lived in liverpool for a short time because of work, (although it seemed an awful lot longer) walton vale to be exact, what a lovely charming place, much like the rest of the slum, full of prostitutes at night, probably how your sister makes enough money for her next fix.
Come on the Toffeees
mlunt363 post 62
along with that, that means your precious team have to re-shcedule another league game
into an already busy period. against the blue scum, n they always raise their game against you as they hate your lot as much, and in some cases more than our lot
to comment 109 we may be in debt whatever doesnt mean we cnt be champs rnt the players that brought us into debt the best
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