It's Round and It's White
Before the game on Boxing Day the only result I could predict was a Liverpool win, but a battling performance by the Blackburn Rovers players earned us a vital point away at Anfield.
Steve Kean has been under an enormous amount of pressure of late, and went in to the game knowing defeat was not an option. The game started slowly with Liverpool looking most threatening as they controlled the possession in the middle of the park.
Our defence looked comfortable and disciplined with 17 year old Adam Henley deputising at full back. Liverpool’s best chance of the first half fell to Any Carroll, his shot from six yards out was smartly saved by another Rovers league debutant Mark Bunn, filling in for the injured Paul Robinson.
We rarely threatened throughout the game, and our best opportunity of scoring was going to be a set-piece, and so it proved, on the stroke of half time Agger conceded a corner. Pedersen whipped the ball in from the right hand side which resulted in Charlie Adams turning the ball in to the back of his own net. It was a fantastic time to score, completely changing both managers half time team talks.
It was obvious it was going to be a backs against the wall job in the second half, and on the 53rd minute Rodriguez Maxi headed home a free header at the back stick to level the game.
David Dunn spurned a glorious opportunity to restore our lead, when his bursting run lacked any composure as he fired his shot wide.
Liverpool piled on the pressure but our defence stood strong. Carroll came close again, only to see his headed effort whistle past the post.
Mark Bunn and Adam Henley made themselves household names with two moments of brilliance. First Bunn saved a Carroll volley from three yards out with an unbelievable reflex save as he was wrong footed. From the resulting corner with literally just seconds on the clock Agger headed the ball towards the bottom far corner which looked set to earn the reds all three points until 17 year old Adam Henley somehow cleared the ball with the last kick of the game to earn us a point.
It was not our best performance of the season, but it was clear to see we were united as a team and the belief was there. We showed passion, commitment and desire in the final minutes to hold on to a fantastic point. Not many teams walk away from Anfield with anything so to have bounced back from the disappointing result last week against Bolton and earn a point at Anfield shows we are not going down without a fight. But if we are to have any chance at all of staying up we have to start picking up more points and quick. We need to be beating the sides in and around us, and any points picked up against the so called bigger teams are added bonuses.
With so much speculation and drama surrounding the club recently it was definitely a great point, and finally something small to cheer over the festive period.
