Sunderland 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool lost their fourth Premiership game on the trot, as their miserable run
continued up at the Stadium of Light.
Sami Hyypia was left out of the side due to suffering from tiredness, and Igor Biscan was the player brought in to replace him.
Both sides were in desperate need for a win to improve morale, but it was Sunderland who had the first sight of goal when on 12 minutes, Kevin Phillips made a run down the right which was followed with a cross to Kilbane at the edge of the area, but his first time shot was wide of Kirkland's left hand post.
Liverpool's first shot at goal came after 20 minutes of play, when Steve Gerrard fired a left foot shot wide of goal, after a neat one two with Baros
McCann's long clearance was flicked on by Phillips to set Flo away down the right, and after Biscan had sprinted across to himself between Flo and a direct run on goal, the Norwegian forward rolled the ball to the incoming Kevin Phillips, though his low strike was off target.
The next sight of goal action was on 34 minutes, when Michael Owen had a shot from close range from a difficult angle.
Just a minute and a half later though, the ball was in the net, though it wasn't in Liverpool's favour, as Sunderland netted their first goal for over 500 minutes of football when Gavin McCann lifted the ball over Kirkland and into the Liverpool net to put his side ahead.
It could have been 2-0 just a minute after that goal, but a last gasp challenge prevented Phillips from getting a shot on goal.
But on 41 minutes, Milan Baros was guilty of missing the best chance of the game and the Czech surely should have put Liverpool level. With the ball at his feet just 6 yards from goal, as Macho went to ground early, Baros struck a rather tame shot against the keepers legs, when even a little height on the shot would no doubt have put it over Macho. It was a good stop by the 'keeper who had done so much to prevent Liverpool scoring when the sides met at Anfield last month, but Baros should have scored.
Macho denied Liverpool again early in the second half, when he produced a fine one handed stop from an excellent volley by Baros from 20 yards out.
As at Charlton last weekend, Liverpool looked a different side at the start of the second half, forcing a couple of early corners and showing more determination to get forward and create chances, the next of which arrived on 52 minutes with a free kick 25 yards from goal.
Taken by Danny Murphy, the free kick was almost perfectly placed into the top corner, but yet again, Macho got a hand to it and tipped the ball over the bar.
Macho was motionless for Danny Murphy's next attempt at goal though, although the shot from 12 yards out was a couple of inches wide of his post, as Liverpool continued to threaten the Sunderland goal.
A five minute spell then took place which saw a penalty save at one end and a goal at the other, as firstly Kirkland saved from a Gavin McCann spot kick which was wrongly awarded to Sunderland, and then Milan Baros got himself on the end of a defence splitting pass by Gerrard and calmly slotted the ball under the Jurgen Macho to give Liverpool the goal that their second half display had thoroughly deserved.
Sunderland refused to fall apart though, and ex-Liverpool defender Phil Babb got a header on goal on 70 minutes which bounced just in front of Kirkland on a slippery surface, but Kirkland held the ball well.
Houllier's last change of the afternoon was to to bring on Salif Diao for Vladimir Smicer.
Milan Baros missed the opportunity to put Liverpool ahead on 81 minutes when he steered a shot across goal and narrowly wide of the far post on 81 minutes, and just a minutes later, Macho made a save from another deflected shot, this time by Owen, to ensure the scores remained level.
But the missed chances were to cost Liverpool, as Sunderland scored a scrappy second goal with five minutes remaining on the clock, after some dreadful defending by Liverpool. Just as with the fixture at Charlton eight days ago, and also with the recent games against Fulham and Basel, Liverpool were eventually made to pay the price for an extremely poor first half performance.
Thanks to Tottenham holding Arsenal to a draw in the North London derby, Liverpool are still only 5 points from the top, but Liverpool's run has now seen them take just one point from eighteen, and next week's derby must surely be looked upon as a 'must win' game.
