Match Reports
Liverpool 1-1 Leeds United Liverpool came back from a goal behind to rescue a point in a game they couldnt afford to lose. Leeds looked to settle into the game quickest of the two teams, and dealt comfortably with the little that Liverpool threw at them. The Reds were unable to create any real clear cut chances in the opening half and went in a goal down. From an Ian Harte corner, Gary McAllister failed to clear the ball, which fell to Kewell. Kewell's shot was hit from inside the area through a crowd of players, but managed to find it's way into the net for a lead, which Leeds just about deserved on the balance of play. And to add to Liverpool's misery, there could have been a controversial second goal just before half time. Harry Kewell went down injured just outside the area, and with play continuing over on the far side of the pitch, Danny Mills, in possesion of the ball, was told by one of his teammates to concede a throw-in, and allow treatment to arrive for Kewell. After a moment of hesitation by Mills, and with every other player on the pitch stood still, expecting play to stop, Mills decided to run towards goal. A desperate lunge by a clearly unhappy Riise, was mistimed and conceded a free kick on the edge of the area. However, Ian Harte, often so deadly from 25 yards out, hit the shot straight into the wall and the result remained at 1-0. Liverpool came out looking a lot livelier in the second period, showing a determination to get back into the game and roared on by the best atmosphere at any home game so far this season. Jari Litmanen came on for Emile Heskey, and was instrumental in most things going forward. Litmanen himself had a couple of decent long range efforts early on, and his excellent footwork was just too quick for the Leeds defence at times, as they gave away a number of free kicks from shooting range. But neither Gerrard, nor Riise were able to produce anything special from the set pieces and it was an unlikely scorer who got Liverpool back into the match. Fowler, who again looked much improved on his earlier season form, chipped the ball brilliantly over Martyn and was extremely unlucky not to have claimed a goal for his efforts, but the ball bounced back off the crossbar, and with Martyn still on the ground, Murphy headed into an unguarded net. The win Liverpool needed did not come though, and ultimately they were fortunate to hold onto a draw, with Bowyer striking a fine shot just inches over the bar in injury time. The draw was probably a fair result, but in the end, the news of Gerard Houllier overshadowed the result.
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