The first exchanges looked to be a continuation of the dismal Molineux display. By the end, the only continuation was the stream of clean sheets, and another good performance by Sotorios Kyrgiakos, better known as The Greek. And yes, in capital letters. An aerial presence in the back four has been a necessity as a whole conundrum about defending set-pieces has been a stable point in discussing the ills of Liverpool Football Club on the pitch. His height and aerial ability did give Liverpool something else, but today it was his feet and vision that kept a clean sheet, and denied Bolton an early lead that could have been a big blow to a fragile confidence. As Martin Skrtel was left for dead by a rampaging Chung-Yong Lee, and Pepe Reina somewhat rounded Kyrgiakos placed himself perfectly to clear off the line. When signing, Kyrgiakos called his move to Liverpool a dream move, that admittedly only happened only because of the dire situation Liverpool’s bank account is in, but he is making the most of such situation and his endeavour is a joy to watch.

The first scorer was another hard worker, that again proved when he’s got time to be in the opposition penalty area rather than the touchline, he can make his presence felt and remind that his predatory instincts are still intact. It was a good cross from the left by Emiliano Insua that was nodded down from the far corner into the path of the Dutch, with the latter admittedly only poking in with the delicacy of Tom Hicks’ son replying to a fan’s email. Like with the latter’s, the message got through fine enough.

Liverpool improved during the second forty-five minutes, with the captain particularly imposing himself further into the game and seemingly shaking off any traces of rust that looked to have hindered so much at Molineux. After David Ngog missed a sitter, it had to be an own goal that wrapped it all up for Liverpool, as a shot by Insua was turned in by Kevin Davies. Alberto Aquilani got substituted by Lucas Leiva, and while it may sound as a mere protection of a two goal lead, it gave Liverpool a further attacking impetus, after a rather shoddy display by the Italian, with many passes going astray and in perspective a reminder that dropping him for the Molineux match was not such a travesty. The Italian lad seems to be still on the mend, both physically and mentally.

A flurry of late chances were never converted to goals, but it was spiriting to see. Liverpool are now going through their best period of the season. Admittedly it does not say a lot, but four wins and no defeats in the last six matches is far from a bad return either. The home form so far in the league is as good as last season’s this time this year, with an actual superior goal difference.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett were apparently both at Anfield, but such a fact will be probably rubbed off like a drop of ink on a cheque paying their expenses for their trouble of getting at the mecca.

He sometimes gets cheekily called Rafa’s son. In a more brazen way some call him Rafa’s pet. I wonder how the imaginative rumours have never had him as Rafa’s dressing-room informant. Most of the time he is asked to play on the lateral side of the field, today though, with the stakes being extremely high and the injury list looking as long as a NHS waiting list he has been asked to lead the line on his own and rather than digging a furrow on the sidelines to let the rainwater drift, he was asked to get the shovel and get into the thick of it as there has been too much snow that was threatening to paralyse the system. And Dirk Kuyt not only didn’t disappoint but reminded us that a working man can have his hand full of callus but that doesn’t mean he carries no charm.

It was as early as the fifth minute when Pepe Reina had a long kick that was chested coolly by the same Dutchman. Alberto Aquilani was the closest and laid it off to him. From outside the penalty area, Kuyt this time thought only of the target and his accurate shot was too much for the six clean-sheets in a row Heruelho Gomez and put Liverpool in front.

The remaining forty minutes of the first half were not always easy on the eye. Tottenham were sometimes showing the better ideas but the eleven redmen on the pitch made up for it with enough grit to build a new ground. Jamie Carragher rounded up the lads for a pre-match huddle before kick-off and like he did to Jerzy Dudek in Istanbul prior to the shoot-out he reminded them that it’s time to get dirty, fight for the cause and push the boundaries. And he then personified the battle and his words, in a particular moment busting his guts to win a corner as he outpaced Gareth Bale in the process. The makeshift central defensive pairing of Martin Skrtel and Sotirios Kyrgiakos held its own, with the latter particularly bustling around making up for his limitations with his enthusiasm as his hair fly around.

The second forty-five minutes started with a scare as a mix-up between the same Greek and Reina allowed Jermaine Defoe to undo Reina’s possession of the ball and prod home. The referee though rightly spotted an infringement during the course of action and disallowed the goal. Anfield felt rather shaken by the let-off and murmurs were taking place the sing-songs. At times like these, even the sight of a ping-pong ball can be mistaken for that of a golf ball ready to be lurched at you. But Anfield today was no golf course and the defence had no holes in it. It was actually Liverpool that threatened mostly to score the second goal of the game, and it was only Philip Degen’s strange reluctance in front of goal that didn’t close the game, when a great move and then pass by Kuyt paved it all for him.

David Ngog was given the nod to have the last ten minutes of the match in place of the tiring Alberto Aquilani and to stretch Spurs further. He did his job admirably, made space for himself to have a shot at goal and then won the penalty. Kuyt took the responsibility. He showed the instinct of a striker, sent the keeper one way and the ball powerfully the other way. He was though asked to retake his kick after an apparent encroachment that must have had an effect on the keeper as much as a tax forms have on Harry Redknapp. But Dirk Kuyt wasn’t too effected as he retook the kick and sent Gomes once again the wrong way.

As Rafa Benitez waved back to the Kop, Liverpool got just one point away from the same Spurs. False dawns we had many so far, but a replication of the energy exerted by the men in red today will be enough to light the whole city for the rest of the season.

I have promised myself not to watch this match. Wednesday was bad. Result apart. The performance looked to have been somewhat scripted by Stephen King. We were expecting a belated pantomime and King seemed to have delivered as the farce was evident, but his second nature seemed to get the better of him as in the final act all there was for it, was blood as while the axe was dangling, nobody bothered getting at least out of the way.

I am a routine person by nature and by Friday evening I knew that I cannot miss what have I done for the past twelve odd years. Apologies were forthcoming, rallying cries were being heard, but when you know someone is almost dead on the kerb after being hit, the ambulance siren is more a formality than a straw to cling to.

The other formality was the team line-up. There might have been hopes that the newly signed Maxi Rodriguez will sign but I think the eleven men chose themselves, mostly due to lack of other options rather than by choice. But choices for us at the moment are as realistic as a beggar’s. And for a change, some of the players looked like beggars, as they begged and hurried for the ball all over the place. There wasn’t much quality shown, but when you’re in wretched clothes in the middle of winter, you’re not after designer labels but after anything that can warm you for a while.

And personally, I did warm a bit. The stars were sidelined, not because they’re too aloof but because circumstances dictated so. The first forty-five minutes weren’t easy on the eye but the heart kept beating, and the score-line ended as it started.

Then, from the unlikeliest of sources came the opener. Philip Degen was bursting forward and got fouled. Fabio Aurelio took charge and whipped the ball inside their area. Before we knew it, the net was bulging as Sotiros Kyrgiakos poked the ball in as the ex-Evertonian with the gloves mishandled. Liverpool kept fighting, but Stoke kept knocking and looked dangerous from set-pieces, and as the script for a bruised Liverpool demanded they leveled the score at the dying minute when another defender poked in following a set-piece.

Demanding fight from a Liverpool and being satisfied because you’ve got it is bogglish. In normal times at least. But these are no normal times. They’re supposed to complement each other as loyalty and dog. This is a time when the name of Liverpool Football Club is in peril. Everybody’s pointing fingers there and there. Still we seem to all agree that from top to bottom the club is in a rotten state. And even when you’ve paid good money, you’d be happy to find one good apple after a series of bad ones. It seems to be the law of relativity or maybe better the law of the market. It might be over the odds but common sense does not really prevail in today’s world.
In the grander scheme of things, by the end of the match and after seeing today’s results Liverpool are even further off a Champions League place. Liverpool will be missing the gravy train. When a city is in ruins though, the railway station is only a periphery.

Last minute winner. Back to back wins. Galvanise!

I had the Chemical Brothers ringing in my ears, with their fast beats drilling a hole in my eardrums in the build-up. For the aftermath though I had Noah and the Whale melancholically reminding me that it has to be restarted again. Confidence, or better the lack of it has been the main curse and the easiest scapegoat for the lack of cohesiveness and the disjointed performances of the season. Back in October, a superb victory and performance over the Mancs failed to inject any of it into the lads. Fernando Torres’s clinical finish at the very end at Villa Park seems to have only injected adrenaline into the fans rather than into his team mates. I am here thinking the materialistic Yanks at the helm are at this moment probably googling it as if it were a commodity but they’ve given up as it doesn’t guarantee an immediate dividend. Anyway the idea of a replay at Anfield and 40,000 filled seats is a much better business proposition.

The changes in the starting line-up were minimal. Daniel Agger, Alberto Aquilani and Yossi Benayoun were rested making way for Stephen Darby, Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio. With Rafa’s standards of rotations the changes were slight and understandable. Skrtel though displayed not lack of confidence but lack of co-ordination of his whole body and alongside the no-nonsense Jamie Carragher the ball, when sometimes won could only be hoofed in the air. The omission of Aquilani in the midfield was rather understandable. Him, having only had maybe 200 minutes of football so far, such a tie was definitely not prescribed for his slow convalescence. But here lays the question, when an underdog is hassling you with some in-your-face football, do you get back to his face or belittle him by getting all smart and get him on the deck. At times, Liverpool failed to do either. The midfield was getting outrun, and the back four were replying with panicked hoofs. The ball seemed to hit the pitch only to bounce away.

Steven Gerrard’s reply to Simon Church’s 24th minute opener was a cross shot helped by a Dirk Kuyt futile attempt to connect that undone their keeper. The momentum was then with the reds and the half-time whistle was ill-timed from Liverpool’s perspective. The final whistle wasn’t as unwelcomed albeit few moments before Torres went agonisingly close to get another match-winner as his header ended on the roof of the net rather than under.

A replay at home when playing inferior opposition is akin to a suspended sentence. It is still a welcomed chance in the rehabilitation process that Liverpool are hopefully currently undergoing, and a stark reminder that saving a bit of the season can only be a slow process.