Liverpool ... 0 Everton ... 0: Liverpool avoided a fifth successive Premiership defeat, but this game could still do severe damage to their season. Steven Gerrard, the England midfielder, went unpunished by the referee, Graham Poll, for a blood-curdling foul on Gary Naysmith, the Everton midfielder, that deserved an instant red card.
There is every likelihood that the English Football Association will take up the disciplinary slack and impose a significant ban.
With two minutes remaining Gerrard, on a run down the right, was taken aback by the sliding interception with which Naysmith was about to dispossess him and leapt two-footed. He landed on the knees and thighs of the prone Everton midfielder. The action was disproportionate and reckless.
Naysmith received treatment for a streaming cut after the game and Gerrard realised that another type of damage control was required. The need to mollify the authorities was entwined with his own regret. "I want to apologise for the tackle," he said. "I did go in with two feet and my studs showing, but I did try to pull back.
"I would never go out to deliberately hurt an opponent. I've apologised to Gary Naysmith on the pitch and when we shook hands afterwards. He has accepted my apologies. I also apologised to David Moyes (the Everton manager)."
The club's reaction showed Liverpool dovetailing more neatly as an ensemble than they ever had during the game. Gerard Houllier, the manager, pointed out that neither he nor the linesman, standing close to the incident, had seen anything amiss. He was waspish, too, when asked what sort of response was to be expected from the FA once its video advisory panel has deliberated.
"He might get a fine," said Houllier, alluding to the leniency shown towards Dennis Bergkamp when the Arsenal forward trampled on Nils-Eric Johansson of Blackburn Rovers. It was a quick-witted piece of advocacy but the ruling body are liable to reflect that Gerrard's conduct was far more dangerous.
Houllier said: "You have those sorts of things in derbies and if the FA decide to act, then they have to do that in every game and for every tackle. The player (Gerrard) said he did not intend to hurt him and you have to rely on that."
Moyes was not inflammatory and confined himself to criticising the challenge curtly before expressing admiration for Gerrard the "fantastic player".
The result made it easier for him to be magnanimous. Despite a scruffy contest, the feeling of freshness will linger after an entirely new experience for the Scot.
His side for his first Merseyside derby, despite being weakened by suspensions, responded to their beseeching supporters and are above their city rivals at Christmas for the first time since 1986. That local context is not the only one in which Liverpool find themselves rueful and angst-ridden. The despondency comes, too, from the fact that they slipped even further behind Arsenal this weekend.
The gap stands at seven points and, with two draws as the best features of their last seven Premiership fixtures, they do not look as if they can easily make up lost ground. The forthcoming games against Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal are forbidding.
They trundled against Everton, even if that drab effort was enough to pin the vistors back for spells after the interval. Emile Heskey, a substitute, should have done better than head wide a Danny Murphy free-kick in the 53rd minute.
Liverpool's other meaningful attempts were from distance and Richard Wright turned behind John Arne Riise's drive as half-time approached. None of that, however, can silence the complaints that Houllier's team are hobbled by a lack of variety.
Everton, with Alan Stubbs dominant in central defence, were kept busy but never came near collapse.
Moyes, appointed in March, has had little time at Goodison and the club do not possess much money, yet the progress is steady. They could have complaints about not being allowed the opportunity to lodge the only goal here. As Chris Kirkland dropped the ball under pressure in the 58th minute, Heskey thrust a leg round Kevin Campbell to prevent him from pouncing. It appeared to be a penalty.
Everton might not have needed to turn to the referee in the search for a winner. "Michael is still the Merseyside Main Man," it said on one of the T-shirts being flogged to Liverpool fans outside the ground. There is an inadvertently nervous tone to that declaration, which betrays the fear that Wayne Rooney might surpass Owen.
At 17 years and two months, the Everton forward became the youngest player ever to appear in the fixture. Turning Sami Hyypia and finding his attempt deflected on to the crossbar by Stephane Henchoz in the 59th minute, the substitute very nearly made himself the youngest scorer in a Merseyside clash as well.
There was no inclination towards greed in a contented Everton. They left Houllier to get on with defiance, as he applauded his men's effort and the end of the run of Premiership defeats.
"The glass is half full, not half empty," he said. Perhaps so, but not many Liverpool fans will have proposed a toast to him last night.
Guardian Service
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Traore (Heskey 52), Murphy, Gerrard, Diao (Smicer 52), Riise, Baros, Owen. Subs Not Used: Dudek, Diouf, Biscan. Booked: Traore, Henchoz, Carragher.
EVERTON: Wright, Hibbert (Watson 60), Weir, Stubbs, Pistone, Carsley, Gravesen, Pembridge, Naysmith, Campbell, Radzinski (Rooney 55). Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Tie Li, Gemmill. Booked: Gravesen, Weir, Campbell, Naysmith.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
