For nineteen minutes I was feeling that happy Mondays do exist. As much as of an antonym it sounds and feels, Steven Gerrard seemed to be once again able to raise head and shoulders above the others, defy the odds and create something out of nothing. A sideways pass by Albert Riera found the captain with some room to maneuver, the goal in sight but still some distance away from it all. The distance proved to be no hindrance to the superlative captain, as he shot lowly beyond the reach of Tim Howard and found the net for the ninth time in this Premiership campaign.

Such a goal was a worthy winner of any derby, any match, or of any confrontation, but by the end of the match, we were all left in the world of Bob Geldof with his tune ‘I don’t like Mondays’ echoing through our ears, as Tim Cahill made the most of an insidious angled free-kick of Mikel Arteta and left Liverpool with no time or strength to retaliate.

Another two points lost, another stalemate at Anfield. So far Liverpool have drew five, and won only one more. While Liverpool are still unbeaten, they have lost too many points that are in no way retrievable. After Gerrard’s goal, the reds seemed to be happy to quietly give up the initiative and act pragmatically. In front of them was a side that had a good first forty-five minutes, but the gulf in class and table positioning seemed to be now telling. Rafael Benitez looked bold enough with his starting line-up, electing for both Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres upfront, whilst sacrificing Javier Mascherano on the bench. The breaking of the deadlock seemed to be foremost in Benitez’s mind, and once it got attained he was slowly transforming his boldness to cautiousness. In a way it is understandable, as Liverpool got a back four and a keeper solid and reliable enough to be able to sit on a one goal lead. This season so far, they only gave up a lead once, back at the start of November against an adrenaline induced Spurs side who seemed intent to make Harry Redknapp look as the biggest motivator. When taking away this match, Liverpool drew four times at home, and a further three away. Five of such draws were scoreless, with the remaining two seeing Liverpool saving the game after going behind.

This was the derby though, and as so many times the case, form and statistics are only there to be thrown out of the window. The title challenge has suffered another blow, the destiny is not merely in Liverpool’s hands either, but by no means has followed the direction of form and statistics. The walls of Anfield are still there to repel that.