Liverpool rescued a vital point when they drew 1-1 with neighbours Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield this afternoon. The home side were chasing a second successive League double over their closest rivals but Everton surprised their hosts as they continually frustrated them with their tactics before taking a suprise lead through Tomasz Radzinski early in the second half. However, it was Frenchman Nicolas Anelka, in for the rested Emile Heskey, who saved Liverpool's blushes as he forced a draw with his 71st minute strike.
Many felt before this game that Everton would fail to test Liverpool but the Toffees surprised as they began brightly and managed to hold Liverpool with good organisation while still winning plenty of possession in midfield. The Reds' passing was letting them down and they almost conceded a goal when a free kick from David Ginola 25 yards out caused them considerable trouble.
Liverpool failed to create much in the way of a promising scoring opportunity in the first-half and this became a bigger problem when the visitors took the lead. Alessandro Pistone - playing his first game since December - played a neat one-two with Scott Gemmill and fired over a low cross from the left, which found Radzinsk who scuffed his shot from just inside the box but it bounced away from the despairing Chris Kirkland and into the far corner of the net.
Caretaker boss Phil Thompson immediately brought on Emile Heskey for Stephen Wright and within minutes he had created Liverpool's best chance of the game so far with a chip into the area that Michael Owen fired just over. The pair combined on several more occasions yet that vital equaliser eluded them. But finally, Liverpool's pressure paid off when Heskey found Danny Murphy and his neat pass sent Anelka clear. The on-loan striker fired home past an exposed Steve Simonsen.
After that, Liverpool continued to press for a winner and Everton had to battle hard to take a deserved point from this encounter. Simonsen made a brilliant save to deny a Murphy header before Kirkland matched his efforts with an equally impressive save to keep out a Radzinski effort. However, both sides held on to share the spoils.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
