Offered the chance to overtake rivals Everton while rounding the season’s final bend, they squandered it with a listless performance, but that is to take nothing away from Pearce. This was his first home game since being put in charge of Manchester City until the end of the season and it produced a high-octane performance. And that was just Pearce on the touchline.
He had already volleyed against the post when he hared forward in support as Bradley Wright-Phillips set off on the counter-attack. Wright-Phillips swept the ball out to Lee Croft, who found Musampa on the edge of the box and he rifled a first-time volley past Scott Carson. The goal, which produced Pearce’s first victory as boss, was all the sweeter as Croft and Wright-Phillips were two of his substitutions.
Pearce was introduced by the stadium announcer not as caretaker but “our manager”, strengthening notions that his appointment on a permanent basis is on the verge of being confirmed. “That’s news to me,” he said. “If I’m being honest, I think the board are hoping I prove successful, and Liverpool’s a big scalp. But time will tell. My plan is to put together a run of results that will keep me in the job and I was pleased for the chairman today. City are one of the biggest 20 clubs in the world and he’s put a total amateur in charge.”
Keen to ensure credit went to his players and therefore play down any personal sense of triumph, Pearce (who with a vocabulary which includes words like “teamsmanship” promises to be another Iain Dowie) offered a sober assessment. He felt a draw might have been fair but this was to ignore how City, with their greater energy, had Liverpool on the back foot, particularly in the first half.
Benitez feels Liverpool should be capable of playing every game at the same devastating tempo with which they shook Juventus, yet they showed none of the urgency and choreography of last Tuesday night here.
Being accustomed to Liverpool’s inconsistency does not make it any easier to take and Benitez was exasperated, especially annoyed that the break for City’s goal began when his team lost the ball from their own throw-in. “I’m very disappointed and I’ve told them they have to learn. If you cannot win you have to realise a draw is a good result,” he said.
It seemed minds were on Wednesday’s return game with Juventus. “We talked before about how important it was to win. You need to think about this game and not the next one,” Benitez complained.
Fernando Morientes and Anthony Le Tallec were innocuous. City, down to only one fit recognised striker in Robbie Fowler, had more edge. Fowler played Antoine Sibierski through with a flick but Scott Carson, out quickly, blocked. He is raw but there is already a brilliance about Carson’s handling.
Liverpool had Mike Riley to thank for not sending off Mauricio Pellegrino when the sloth-like defender lost the slowest sprint in Premiership history to the almost equally un-rapid Sibierski and appeared to tug him down as he moved clear on goal.
Early on, Richard Dunne and Sylvain Distin missed Steven Gerrard’s free kick and Morientes stole behind the defenders to chest the ball down, but dallied inexplicably. Later, Gerrard burst on to Vladimir Smicer’s pass but thrashed his shot wide. During a frequently boring game, Pearce was often the best entertainment. He claims to be calming down but kept overstepping the technical area like a great cat determined to stake out his own territory, and he was constantly roaring at players, mewling officials and yowling at ball boys.
He had charged down the tunnel before Tim Flowers, his goalkeeping coach, reminded him to shake Benitez’s hand.
“I’d like to apologise to him (Benitez) if that seemed cocky. I just got caught up in the moment,” Pearce said. Benitez had other worries.