GERRARD STRIKE EARNS REDS REPLAY Liverpool's FA Cup dream is still alive after Steven Gerrard's second-half equaliser earned a 1-1 draw with Everton in a hard-fought fourth round clash at Anfield. The inspirational midfielder netted his second Merseyside derby goal within a week to cancel out Joleon Lescott's 27th minute header and secure a replay at Goodison Park.
It was the least Liverpool deserved after dominating throughout the contest, and the Skipper's 15th goal of the season means we will now face yet another meeting with the Blues to decide which side will book a fifth round tie at home to Aston Villa or Doncaster Rovers.
Heading into the 210th Merseyside derby Rafael Benitez made four changes to the team that had drawn 1-1 in the first match of the double header with David Moyes' side on Monday night.
The inclusion of Ryan Babel and attack-minded full-backs Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena was a sign of Liverpool's intent, and further evidence of the Reds' desire came after just 20 seconds when Xabi Alonso sent a drilled effort just wide of Tim Howard's far post from 25 yards.
The visitors had barely recovered when Fernando Torres sent a devilish ball in from the right, but Babel could not react in time to turn an effort goalwards.
There was much more purpose to Liverpool's play than in the early stages of the league encounter and on 12 minutes Gerrard found Jamie Carragher just inside the visitors' penalty area. The defender dragged the ball away from his marker with a sublime piece of skill before fizzing a shot into the side netting.
It was an outrageous piece of play by the vice-captain and proved to be the highlight of the Red's early dominance.
On the eve of the contest Everton had suffered the blow of losing creative midfielder Mikel Arteta through injury and they rarely looked capable of opening up the home side in open play.
However, they were always threatening from set pieces and despite enduring a barrage of attacks, they broke forward to open the scoring from their first corner of the match on 27 minutes.
Pienaar's searching delivery from the left found Cahill unmarked at the far post and when he headed towards goal, Lescott was on hand to nod it into the net from underneath Pepe Reina's nose.
The Reds stopper - whose last appearance in the FA Cup came in the final itself against West Ham in Cardiff in 2006 - had been little more than a spectator prior to the goal, and he had little to do in the remainder of the match as Everton sat back, desperately hoping to defend their lead.
As expected, the Reds pushed for an equaliser but struggled to get in behind the Toffees' rearguard, with Javier Mascherano's deflected strike from distance the closest they came prior to the interval.
However, as they attacked the Kop end, Liverpool stepped it up a gear in the second 45 and after initially going close with an unorthodox overhead effort, Gerrard pulled the hosts level on 54 minutes.
The ball was fed into Torres midway inside the Everton half and after holding off two defenders he expertly back heeled a pass into the skipper's path, and he raced through to steer a low effort beyond Howard at his near post.
The initiative was now with the home side and the inspirational number eight was nearly celebrating again just three minutes later, but the Blues stopper made a magnificent save to keep him out after Torres had chested the ball into his path.
It was one-way traffic at this point and as the clock ticked down Everton became more and more desperate in their bid to force a replay.
Dirk Kuyt went close to winning it but saw his low shot beaten away by Howard before Torres' goalbound strike from Gerrard's cut back was somehow deflected to safety by a Blues defender.
With just minutes left Liverpool continued to push, but they could not fashion a second goal and must now secure their second Goodison Park win of the season, if they are to maintain their hopes of reaching Wembley. Teams Liverpool: Reina, Dossena, Carragher, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Babel, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard (captain), Torres. Subs - Hyypia, Leiva, Riera, Ngog, Cavalieri, Benayoun, Aurelio
Everton: Howard, Baines, Lescott, Jagielka, Hibbert, Osman, Neville (captain), Castillo, Pienaar, Cahill, Anichebe. Subs - Yobo, Gosling, Nash, Jacobsen, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Van der Meyde
Referee: Steve Bennett
Conditions: Fine
Attendance: Unknown
Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Steven Gerrard |
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