At home Liverpool would surely have converted a similar amount of pressure into a victory, but here they couldn’t quite get themselves — or the ball — over the line. You could see why Benitez is warming to the idea of re-signing Michael Owen. Yet again, the only man likely to score for his team was a midfielder and there are no prizes for guessing who.
Middlesbrough were stuffy in the extreme but Steven Gerrard was uncontainable; one burst, in the 74th minute, provoked a red card for Uho Ehiogu who committed a cynical foul to stop him running through on Mark Schwarzer. Ray Parlour should have also been ordered off for dealing with Gerrard’s threat in a similar fashion and Middlesbrough’s luck was that the scoring touch which had seen him score seven times in five European games deserted Gerrard yesterday.
Following the free kick resulting from Ehiogu’s foul, Jamie Carragher picked out Gerrard with a cross but Liverpool’s captain headed over the bar with Schwarzer coming off his line and the goal unprotected. Gerrard missed an even better opportunity in the first period and had two more chances with headers during Liverpool’s frantic final thrust.
“He was their best attacker and their best defender; he’s an awesome player,” Steve McClaren said, but yesterday was a reminder Gerrard cannot quite do everything on a football field. Liverpool needed the kind of cool in front of goal the most icy strikers produce. Fernando Morientes — and Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros, when they came on — were effective in their ways, but the type required was Owen.
“In the end you think you’ve lost two points but it’s okay, we’ve done better than last season away. We kept a clean sheet and played well in the game,” said Benitez. The positives he was focusing on included the way Carragher marshalled the defence and the control provided by Xabi Alonso, Gerrard and Momo Sissoko in midfield.
Home fans at the Riverside were in lusty form despite some killjoy football from their own side. In his programme notes, McClaren boasted: “I firmly believe we are an entertaining product.” Middlesbrough can be that, but they weren’t yesterday. Gareth Southgate, so aware in his positioning and influential in the successful rearguard that followed Ehiogu’s red card, was by far their best player. Middlesbrough ended the match trying to waste time by keeping the ball at the corner flags.
Liverpool also had caution in their make-up. Benitez fielded five in midfield and with Stuart Downing and Gaizka Mendieta tucking in and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink coming deep, the home side effectively matched them. Though the early passing of Xabi Alonso and Gerrard was wonderful, moves tended to choke in a smog of bodies.
Then Morientes managed to think outside the box. Dropping off Ehiogu to meet a Steve Finnan cross, he nodded the ball down for Gerrard to break clear but, with Schwarzer stranded, he rammed the ball into the stand.
Boro’s only threat was at set-pieces. Jose Reina’s first corner in English football saw the keeper run into a wall of bodies, fall to the ground and cry foul in vain while Ehiogu almost scored. Welcome to the Premiership, senor.