LIVERPOOL 1; LEICESTER CITY 0: After all the weekend's coin-throwing shenanigans, a semblance of order was restored to Liverpool's world last night.
This victory may have been unconvincingly eked out on the strength of Emile Heskey's second league goal since August, but at least it clawed Manchester United back to within reach at the top. Leicester City, plucky but beaten, remain marooned; a penny, as opposed to a pound, for Dave Bassett's thoughts now.
Since Jamie Carragher's rush of blood at Highbury, the caretaker manager Phil Thompson had juggled calls for a crackdown on coin-throwing with attempts at squad strengthening. As a result the £800,000 Abel Xavier sat watching in the directors' box, the third player in 67 years to cross Stanley Park from Everton but he could hardly have been impressed by what he saw in the first half.
Faced with near-blanket defence, Liverpool huffed and puffed but consistently failed to deliver a cutting final pass. On the rare occasions they did, Matt Elliott's block choked Nicolas Anelka's early shot, and Heskey - a man possessed against his former club - nodded down for Dietmar Hamann to thunder a volley wide.
Bassett's appointment was made under the assumption that if anyone can, Harry can, though that is looking increasingly like wishful thinking. Floundering at the foot, his side have taken only 12 points from his 15 games, with injuries dogging his squad.
That was enough to justify Leicester's cautious approach. With defenders camped behind the ball, Liverpool simply ran aground. When they did bypass the wall of blue - Vladimir Smicer's slipped pass to Stephen Wright leaving defenders in a flap - up popped Jacob Laursen to hack the full-back's shot off the line.
That had the home fans grumbling and their edginess was picked up by the players. Matthew Jones pounced on Anelka's mistake and advanced to curl a shot just wide of Jerzy Dudek's near post. Moments later, Muzzy Izzet's cross landed at Elliott's feet but the centre-half saw his shot deflected over by a mixture of Stephane Henchoz and Heskey.
That chance clearly served as a belated wake-up call. Patrik Berger took his frustrations out on the ball, crunching a long-range volley just wide, before the breakthrough eventually arrived.
Bassett's pre-match assertion that he was "afraid" of Heskey, a striker with only one goal in his previous 32 appearances, had appeared laughable.
Unfortunately for the City manager, he was proved right. Hamann caught Izzet in midfield with the ball ricocheting forward for Heskey to power beyond Elliott through the centre. Ian Walker advanced tentatively but the striker lobbed his shot cheekily over the goalkeeper.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Wright, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Smicer, Hamann, McAllister (Murphy 74), Berger (Riise 86), Heskey, Anelka. Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Owen, Litmanen. Booked: Smicer. Goals: Heskey 57.
LEICESTER: Walker, Laursen, Elliott, Davidson, Impey, Izzet, Jones (Marshall 61), Oakes (Benjamin 85), Stewart (Rogers 16), Piper, Scowcroft. Subs Not Used: Flowers, Lewis. Booked: Stewart, Scowcroft.
Referee: B Knight (Orpington).
