Liverpool ... 1 Aston Villa ... 1The Arena, a packed pocket of doom and gloom, was fast emptying to a chorus of grumbles when the announcement came. "Please respect the sweeper zone and pick up your litter," droned the Tannoy without a hint of irony.
Liverpool were not rubbish on Saturday, but they came close. Only for seven tantalising minutes did they threaten to conjure a first league win since early November but, against one of only two sides in Britain yet to muster an away success this season, they soon reverted to type.
In the end, a depressingly disjointed display earned them a point they scarcely deserved to leave the fourth Champions League place, now the height of their Premiership ambitions, four points out of reach. That gap will be stretched to seven if Newcastle win their game in hand, a home fixture against lowly Bolton, though after 11 matches without a victory, surrealism is fast taking hold on Merseyside.
The radio phone-ins had kicked in by the time Gerard Houllier had left Anfield, the callers hell-bent on ignoring years of progress at the first sign of a downturn, but reality dictates immediacy is no longer about European qualification or a belated title charge - now all Houllier and his players crave is a win.
"The season is not a catastrophe yet," muttered Danny Murphy, one of the home side's better players on the day. That is true enough. Liverpool are still in three cup competitions. "If we have the type of run we know we're capable of, we'll make it into the top four."
Leading through Michael Owen's first Premiership strike since the sorry sequence began, a drive across Peter Enckelman with the linesman flagging for a penalty for handball, the seeds of Liverpool's frustration were sown 29 seconds after the break after Ian Taylor's header from Stefan Moore's cross was tipped aside by Chris Kirkland.
Within two minutes, a panicked Sami Hyypia had tripped Gareth Barry in the area and Dion Dublin slotted home his fourth goal in as many league games from the penalty spot. He should have won the match but nodded Ulises de la Cruz's centre over the bar as Liverpool lurched back into crisis. "Every mistake was highlighted by the fans and that edginess transposes itself on to the pitch," said Graham Taylor. "It's magnified by the crowd here."
"Subconsciously, we take our foot off the pedal when we're leading," added Murphy. "It's not something we do deliberately but, when you're in a run like this and you get something you tend to think: 'Let's keep it'. You sit back instead of taking the initiative."
Meantime, William Hill cut Liverpool's odds to be relegated from 1,000 to 1 to 66 to 1, with 150 to 1 on offer should they not win another Premiership match all season.
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard, Diao (Cheyrou 72), Murphy, Diouf (Smicer 60), Owen, Mellor (Heskey 60). Subs Not Used: Dudek, Traore. Booked: Henchoz. Goals: Owen 38.
ASTON VILLA: Enckelman, Johnsen, Mellberg, Barry, Samuel, Hendrie (De la Cruz 52), Taylor, Hitzlsperger, Wright, Dublin, Vassell (Moore 45). Subs Not Used: Postma, Crouch, Edwards. Booked: Taylor, Wright. Goals: Dublin 49 pen.
Referee: P Durkin (Dorset)
