Liverpool 2 Blackburn Rovers 1:SIX YELLOW cards, two reds not given and 36 fouls, yet it was only in the aftermath of Liverpool's narrow defeat of Blackburn that things got truly nasty.
First out of the corner was Sam Allardyce, raising his defences having launched another attack on Rafael Benitez before the contest. “I’ve been criticised personally by the Liverpool manager many, many times so I feel the right to respond,” said Rovers’ manager.
His Liverpool rival returned with a combination of below-the-belt jibes and this vicious haymaker: “Some people need to talk before and after games because it is more difficult for them to do a football job.”
A sour relationship has turned poisonous.
Blackburn were not the team of agricultural spoilers Benitez associates with Allardyce, yet they collected five yellows and were extremely fortunate not to have Steven Nzonzi and Pascal Chimbonda sent off. The former for grabbing Lucas Leiva’s face and throwing him to the floor, the latter for thrusting his studs into the chest of Maxi Rodriguez. Oh, and the pantomime villain El Hadji Diouf was spoken to by a Merseyside police officer at half-time for becoming involved in a row with Steven Gerrard that continued into the tunnel and for goading the crowd.
“We had five bookings and 25 fouls against us but that is not a reflection on how we played,” said Allardyce. Straight-faced too. His argument “if we had a goalscorer in our team we would have won the game because we out-chanced them” brooked less argument. But it was his assertion on Friday that Benitez had turned Liverpool into everything the Spaniard despised about Bolton and now Blackburn to resurrect Champions League ambitions which provoked a sarcastic response.
Benitez retorted: “He is a model for football all around the world. I am sure he is a model for behaviour and for kids all around the world. I am sure Barcelona are thinking of copying this style now too. The way we have to be on and off the pitch should be an example to kids and parents all around the world.”
Blackburn began and finished the better side, only to lose their composure during one petulant second-half period and parity when they were caught on the counter-attack by Gerrard. The Liverpool captain exchanged passes with Lucas and Yossi Benayoun before, after a stumble had taken him clear of the Blackburn defence inside the area, he clipped an exquisite finish over the advancing Paul Robinson.
The visitors deservedly levelled when Jamie Carragher needlessly handled and Republic of Ireland international Keith Andrews converted an undisputed penalty. More defensive folly enabled Liverpool to regain the lead before half-time when Blackburn believed the threat of Fernando Torres had passed. It never has. The Spaniard was left unmarked as Robinson chased a loose ball and Rodriguez crossed for Torres to convert.
Guardian Service
