Liverpool 2 Middlesbrough 0: Times must be changing in English football if David Dein is no longer associated with all things Arsenal and Alan Curbishley, so recently a candidate for national coach, is contemplating life exiled from the top flight, but some things remain constant. Liverpool laboured for long periods last night but, in the end, they had Steven Gerrard to thank for success.
The England midfielder emerged from a soporific occasion - Middlesbrough have now failed to win a league game at Anfield in 31 years - to score twice and hoist Rafael Benitez's side back above the Gunners and into third place. If Arsenal had been seeking some positive news to cling to after a day of upheaval at the Emirates, there was none to be found here.
Middlesbrough's wretched record in these parts means they would surely have arrived braced for a pummelling, but Liverpool's minds were clearly elsewhere. Benitez's team visit Stamford Bridge next Wednesday for the first leg of a Champions League tie that will shape what remains of their campaign. That game hung over this fixture, the strangely muted atmosphere summing up a downbeat occasion, with the players' concentration drifting amid the subdued murmur of the crowd.
Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger may have excelled with their cross-field passing, but this contest was strewn with unforced errors.
They ranged from wild shots, most often from John Arne Riise into the unsuspecting Anfield Road stand, to Mohamed Sissoko's increasingly forlorn pursuit of a second senior career goal. The Mali midfielder, attacking by nature but blunt in the six-yard box to the extent that he had never scored for the Merseysiders, twice dribbled shots pathetically wide from Jermaine Pennant centres early on to undo much of the promise of his galloping runs through the centre. He was just as disappointing with a header in the first half, again from Pennant's supply line, but the mistakes were not reserved for the hosts' forward line.
The visitors had been becalmed, reflecting a side who had not mustered a goal away from Teesside since January 13th, yet they should have led by the break. Jamie Carragher was culpable, surrendering possession inexplicably on the halfway line to Fabio Rochemback. The centre-half was still picking himself up from the turf as the Brazilian ambled forward, only to drag his shot wide of Jose Reina's near post.
Rochemback has enjoyed better times in this arena, his fine finish to a slick move for Barcelona some five years ago having helped ease the Catalans to a 3-1 win here, though this had been such a scrappy affair that a repeat of such brilliance would have felt inappropriate. By the time Dirk Kuyt was summoned from the bench for the limping Sissoko, Mascherano had looped a header from Boudewijn Zenden's corner on to the crossbar, but the home side needed a spark. When it came, it was from a customary source.
Gerrard had been virtually anonymous for almost an hour, his free role negated by Boro's swarming midfield. Yet, when the visitors' guard dropped with Rochemback marginally off the pace, Gerrard collected Zenden's pass and rasped a fine shot from 25 yards across the sluggish Mark Schwarzer and into the far corner. It was his 10th club goal of the season.
Kuyt's bustling presence was unsettling, Jonathan Woodgate forced to suffocate one attempt from in front of goal, even if it was Pennant who was offering Liverpool much-needed zest.
The winger had time and space to measure a centre six minutes later and, as Peter Crouch attempted to leap and convert the cross, referee Graham Poll penalised Andrew Davies for a tug on the England striker. Gerrard, not always comfortable with penalty duties, spanked in the second from the spot and Liverpool were away.
Guardian Service
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Riise, Pennant, Mascherano, Sissoko (Kuyt 51), Zenden, Gerrard (Gonzalez 87), Crouch. Subs not used: Dudek, Hyypia, Fowler.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Davies, Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Boateng, Morrison (Viduka 66), Cattermole (Johnson 81), Rochemback, Downing, Yakubu. Subs not used: Jones, Riggott, Lee. Booked: Davies.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
