Liverpool - 2 Charlton Athletic - 1 The Kop spent their afternoon squirming in agonised frustration, but they need not have worried. Destiny appears to have decided that Liverpool will finish in the top four.
Gerard Houllier's side can hardly have been less impressive than they were yesterday, spluttering in lacklustre mediocrity for 86 minutes to trail to a comical Charlton goal, yet they still gleaned a significant reward from this shambles of a performance.
In the end, Steven Gerrard's breathtaking winner, so utterly out of context given their anaemic showing and buried in the final second of normal time, lifted Liverpool to within a point of Newcastle. "It's not good for my nerves or my heart," said Houllier, whose surgeon had been an anxious observer in the directors' box. "At least he must be pleased."
Liverpool's board will share the medic's glee. The £20 million bounty of Champions League qualification remains within reach with the final-day trip to Chelsea increasingly etched into the psyche on Merseyside. Yet for most of this game Houllier's side played as if gripped by the intense pressure to return to Europe's elite competition.
When Gerrard's stinging shot crashed through a bemused Dean Kiely, the release was deafening, and the goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek - supposedly carrying a groin strain - sprinted the length of the pitch to join the celebrations.
"We were lucky, but that game was a reflection of our season," Houllier conceded. "We made a mistake, went through a difficult period but never gave up. That produced the sparkle in the end. If we lacked a bit of energy, we didn't lack character or temperament. We've got guts."
So have Charlton. The south Londoners arrived at Anfield without a win in six games and with their season apparently in freefall, but their determination suffocated Liverpool for long periods. Claus Jensen and Scott Parker were effervescent in midfield, eclipsing Danny Murphy whose comedown from his derby winner culminated in a 73rd-minute substitution which prompted him to fling a drinks bottle in Phil Thompson's direction.
Houllier's assistant subsequently became embroiled in a row with a supporter near the dug-out to sum up the exasperation. Thompson stalked off down the tunnel while the rest of the coaching staff spilled ecstatically on to the pitch.
"Danny was unhappy about his performance, that's all," explained Houllier, somewhat unconvincingly. "He's apologised, but it's not a problem." By then Charlton had taken the lead their energy merited, Djimi Traore dithering in possession and bizarrely slipping as he attempted a pointless turn.
"Call it what you want, it was a blunder," said his manager. The French defender lay prone, burying his head in the turf as if to hide his blushes, as Shaun Bartlett gathered the loose ball, advanced and slid in his fourth of an unproductive season.
That should have spurred Liverpool into quick retaliation but instead they laboured, reduced to hopeful and increasingly desperate attempts as those visiting fans in the lower tier of the Anfield Road stand crowed about their slender advantage.
There seemed little prospect of a reply until John Arne Riise, previously off-colour, found his range from a corner and Sami Hyypia prodded the equaliser via the diving Kiely's outstretched hand.
Substitute Jason Euell promptly forced Dudek to turn away a header from Jensen's centre, only for Gerrard - wriggling aggressively away from John Robinson and Luke Young on the left touchline - to cut inside and squeeze a low drive through the Irish goalkeeper's grasp. Charlton were distraught at the final whistle, though there was encouragement from the bench.
"Some of our recent performances have been outrageous and downright disgraceful," said Alan Curbishley, the dream of a UEFA Cup berth long since catapulted. "But we've got something to show from this. I've learnt about my players in recent weeks, but I can look forward to next season more after this. Let's hope Liverpool get into the Champions League now."
They could yet, though they can ill-afford another display as shoddy and fortunate as this.
Guardian Service
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Riise, Diouf (Cheyrou 74), Hamann, Gerrard, Murphy (Smicer 74), Heskey (Baros 45), Owen. Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Diao. Goals: Hyypia 86, Gerrard 90.
CHARLTON: Kiely, Young, Rufus, Fortune, Powell, Kishishev, Jensen, Parker (Robinson 83), Konchesky, Bartlett (Euell 77), Lisbie (Johansson 90). Subs Not Used: Roberts, Bart-Williams. Booked: Fortune. Goal: Bartlett 47.
Referee: S Dunn (Avon).
