Birmingham - 2 Liverpool - 1 Any groans from across town or on the West Ham team coach, winding its way back to east London, did not register in the delirious din at last night's final whistle. Birmingham City, gasping for air above the relegation zone, breathe again.
Hard-fought success over an abject Liverpool edged Birmingham six points clear of the cut-off but, more significantly, ended a demoralising sequence that had threatened to suck Steve Bruce's side back into the first division. Since a narrow victory at Fulham in mid-December, 10 games had come and gone without even the sniff of a lead.
"We've stopped the rot," said Bruce, relief etched across his brow. "That was no fluke."
Rather, it was thoroughly deserved. Rugged, energetic and wonderfully defiant in the face of belated pressure, Birmingham can take heart as well as points from this display. Driven by the dynamic Robbie Savage, complemented by Stephen Clemence and the tireless Stan Lazaridis, City eclipsed opponents who had supposedly rediscovered their assured selves following midweek European success.
The home tackles bit whereas Liverpool were aimless. Clemence's first goal since his £250,000 move from Tottenham, nodded beyond the diving Jerzy Dudek from Savage's hopeful free-kick with the midfielder neglected by Jamie Carragher, duly gained them the lead.
That lead was only fitfully challenged before Lazaridis, fortunate to escape unpunished after clattering Dietmar Hamann, was eventually sent scurrying down the left wing by Christophe Dugarry midway through the second half. With Sami Hyypia and Salif Diao, baffled in a right-back berth after Carragher's substitution, still upfield and conspicuous only by their absence, the Australian crossed for Clinton Morrison to convert gleefully ahead of the hobbling Hamann.
"That was the killer moment," growled Houllier, who was left bemoaning two harshly rejected penalty appeals after Danny Murphy and Bruno Cheyrou had been crunched by Clemence and Lazaridis respectively.
"The officials were not brave enough to make those decisions. Both were clear penalties, but I'm more frustrated that we didn't play as well as we can. We'd played a hard game on Thursday and, what with the travel . . . though I don't want it to sound like sour grapes. It's not an excuse."
Unfortunately, it smacked of exactly that, particularly when set against Murphy's honest assessment.
"There's no point looking for excuses, talking about midweek games and all that," he said. "All the best teams have those. We just weren't good enough and, if we're going to qualify for the Champions League, we'll have to be much better than that."
Liverpool have won only two of their last 16 Premiership games and only when the rested Michael Owen sprinted on to poke Murphy's floated pass beyond Nico Vaesen did they demonstrate any kind of attacking conviction.
That was only the England striker's second league goal since Houllier's side led the table in early November but, in the 27 minutes afforded him with UEFA and League Cup ties to come, he had precious little opportunity to conjure an equaliser. Bruce reckons his side need three more wins to ensure their Premiership survival. Liverpool may need eight or nine to secure a Champions League place, languishing as they do five points behind Chelsea and Everton.
For Birmingham, there is also hard work ahead - not least when West Ham visit on the final day of the season - though next Monday's trip to Aston Villa suddenly looks far less daunting. Dugarry's flicks and Morrison's rediscovered bite in front of goal both bode well, though the Frenchman was lucky to escape an elbow on Djimi Traore, retribution for an earlier challenge.
"The result (2-2) we got up at Anfield kick-started our season, so hopefully this will do the same," added Bruce before he departed to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. "The season will go down to the wire, but at least I can go home now and have a nice bottle of red."
For Houllier, the prospects appear less rosy.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Vaesen, Kenna, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Savage, Clemence (Carter 79), Lazaridis, Morrison (Devlin 88), Dugarry (Horsfield 81), Damien Johnson. Subs Not Used: Bennett, John. Booked: Dugarry, Upson. Goals: Clemence 34, Morrison 68.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher (Owen 63), Hyypia, Traore, Hamann, Cheyrou (Mellor 84), Riise, Murphy, Baros, Heskey, Diao. Subs Not Used: Babbel, Arphexad, Biscan. Booked: Diao. Goal: Owen 77.
Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucestershire)
