The wonder of it was, as Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, regretted and Villa’s manager, David O’Leary, admitted, that Liverpool were not several goals up by half- time. Instead, the score was 1-1, and so it remained to the end. For this, Villa could thank not only Sorensen, but also those remarkable free kicks that are the speciality of Nolberto Solano. Just before the break, with Liverpool a goal ahead, Villa were given a disputed free kick on the edge of the Liverpool box. Solano curled the ball perfectly, high into the middle of the goal.
Liverpool, who may have Milan Baros, the Czech Republic striker, back for their European game in midweek, initially used only Neil Mellor up front, although he was frequently reinforced from midfield, especially by Gerrard and Harry Kewell, whose goal for Liverpool was his first for them in the Premiership since way back in February.
O’Leary was pleased with his team’s performance in the second half after admitting: “In the first half, we got out of jail. I thought we were totally outclassed. You couldn’t fault the players. They (Liverpool) were just pure quality.”
The Villa manager had words of praise for his young midfielder, Steven Davis, who not only had abundant energy but also showed neat control and an impressive flair for making the telling pass — not that he got much of a response from the Villa attack.
Liverpool were up and running from the start and could have scored an early goal when Dietmar Hamann’s cross went untouched across the face of the goal. John Arne Riise then brought the first of a series of saves from Sorensen. The Liverpool goal arrived on 16 minutes and others seemed sure to follow. But, somehow, for all Gerrard’s dynamism and his team’s general command of the field, they were frustrated.
Gerrard left the pitch with eight minutes remaining, as Liverpool cast an eye forward to Wednesday’s vital Champions League match at home to Olympiakos. He left behind one of the strangest draws we will see this season.