Liverpool's Champions League dreams are still alive thanks to Gary McAllister's injury time winner over Everton at Goodison Park this evening. The Reds, who were reduced to ten men when Igor Biscan was dismissed for two bookable offences with 14 minutes left, survived two Toffees equalisers to eventually emerge with a priceless 3-2 victory to keep their prospects of finishing in the top three intact.
Liverpool had taken the lead as early as the fourth minute when Emile Heskey ran through from the half-way line to beat Paul Gerrrard with a low drive from inside the area, but Duncan Ferguson equalised just before the break stabbing home from 15 yards. Markus Babbel grabbed his fifth goal of the season to fire the Reds ahead again in the 57th minute, when he latched on to a Hamann pass to drill past Gerrard. Biscan was soon shown the red card and Robbie Fowler missed a penalty before David Unsworth converted a spotkick for The Blues to restore parity in the 164th derby between the two sides. Just when it looked like the game was heading for a draw, McAllister punished Everton with a stunning free kick from all of 30 yards.
Everton started with the four players expected to be ruled out through injury, with Ferguson, Richard Gough, Abel Xavier and David Unsworth all included. Liverpool, clearly with Thursday's UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Barcelona in mind, were without Steven Gerrard, while Patrik Berger and the suspended Danny Murphy were also missing.
Filed by Shane Murray
