David Ngog's first Premier League goal sparks Liverpool

03 March 2009 21:53
After 45 minutes, the eulogies were already penned. Here lies Liverpool's title challenge, 2008-09, lost to this world after a long battle against on-pitch caution and off-pitch folly. Thanks to an unheralded teenager and a moment of goalkeeping farce, they can be shelved at least until March 14. Funeral or resuscitation awaits at Old Trafford. [LNB]This was not a vintage display. It was not a rousing win to lift the mood of impenetrable gloom which shrouds Anfield. But it was a start, the first step on the long road to redemption, the first attempt at atoning for the sins that have conspired to derail them since January. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League table[LNB]Telegraph player rater[LNB]Liverpool's defeat of Chelsea sparks title dreams[LNB]Liverpool owner Tom Hicks to sell Anfield stake[LNB]Sir Alex Ferguson challenges Manchester United to become the 'Invincibles'[LNB]Round-up:Liverpool go top while Everton hammer Bolton[LNB]Goals from David Ngog, his first in the Premier League, and Yossi Benayoun, after Marton Fulop spilt the Frenchman's hopeful cross, at least allowed Rafa Benitez's side to close the gap on Manchester United to four points, for 24 hours at least. The slightest glimmer of hope, for now, is restored, yet the mood at Anfield is hardly celebratory. Where Chelsea's players trooped off at Fratton Park delirious at their late win, their Liverpool counterparts know that each victory between now and the end of the campaign will serve to remind them only of what might have been. [LNB]'We were in a good position before the game with Middlesbrough,' Benitez said. 'Then we lost that game and it was much more difficult. Maybe because we were in such a good position through the whole season people expected for us to have more at this point, too. Now all we can do is hope that United cannot win tomorrow. It will be better for us if they do not, so, yes, I hope Newcastle win. Then we have to win at Old Trafford.' [LNB]If they are to succeed where so many have failed, they will have to improve on this display, despite the restorative powers of a victory that for at least 45 minutes looked likely to elude them. The same old problems reared their ugly heads as Benitez's side settled in to a familiar routine. Plenty of possession, no thrust. Control, but no power. [LNB]No power to overwhelm inferior opposition. No power to assert themselves in attack. No power to live up to the high standards expected of them. No power to keep pace with United. [LNB]Sunderland's game plan could have been faxed from Craven Cottage, the Britannia Stadium or Upton Park. Come to Anfield and challenge Liverpool to break you down. More often than not, especially when deprived of either Steven Gerrard or, in this case, Fernando Torres, they cannot pick the lock. [LNB]There is no fear in coming to Anfield anymore, not even for the wall of sound washing down from the Kop which has created so much of the ground's lore. It has been replaced by a sense bordering on dread, a silence so complete the crowd could hear referee Mark Halsey's entreaties. [LNB]Liverpool enjoyed possession of the ball for approximately 43 minutes out of the first 45 but could not carve out a single chance as simple as the one which Kenwyne Jones fluffed after three minutes. Spinning with embarrassing ease past and through Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel, he found himself bearing down on Pepe Reina only to shoot tamely at the retreating goalkeeper. [LNB]'He should have scored,' Ricky Sbragia said. 'It could have been very different if he'd put it away. He's obviously very disappointed, because the game could have been very different.' [LNB]Tal Ben-Haim blocked one Gerrard effort, then appeared to jump straight back up and use his arm to deny Albert Riera. Dirk Kuyt fired a fierce low drive straight down Fulop's throat and then almost got on the end of Benayoun's cross. Grant Leadbitter almost deflected a Riera effort inside his near post and Javier Mascherano, impressive in an unfamiliar right-back role, twice went close. [LNB]Given such an insipid display, it was no surprise it took Sunderland's first defensive lapse to put the hosts ahead. Riera was allowed acres of space on the left to pick out Gerrard as he arrowed into the box and the captain's misdirected header fell straight at Ngog's feet, six yards from the empty Kop goal. The youngster, who has promise beneath the raw exterior, could not believe his luck. [LNB]Benayoun, too, was gifted his goal as Sunderland started to crumble. Ngog punted a hopeful overhead kick in the direction of Fulop and he somehow spilt it straight to the Israeli, who rolled the ball home. Riera, Lucas and substitute Ryan Babel all then went close. [LNB]Even as the players walked off, after only a second home win of 2009, the Kop was muted. Going so close and yet being so far has taken its toll. The fans will only find their voices if Old Trafford is silenced.[LNB] 

Source: Telegraph