A last gasp equaliser from Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison handed Birmingham a point as Liverpool once more threw away a two goal lead at Anfield. Liverpool should have the points wrapped up well before then, as Danny Murphy and Steven Gerrard had put the Reds in front and seemingly on course for a comfortable victory.
After dominating the opening exchanges Murphy gave Liverpool the lead on 24 minutes with a brilliantly struck free kick from 25 yards which gave Nico Vaesen no chance in the Birmingham goal. Michael Owen could and should have added to the Reds lead, but again his finishing was lacking in front of goal and Vaesen came out on top in their one-on-one exchanges.
Stephen Gerrard doubled his side's advantage soon after the break when he rounded of a flowing attack on the break with a low drive past Vaesen and the Reds were cruising.
However it all began to fall apart when Birmingham pulled one back against the run of play on 61 minutes. Djimi Traore let Stern John through after a dreadful mistake and Morrison was able to hook the ball past Dudek from close range.
With last week's result against Newcastle fresh in their minds, Liverpool suddenly looked shaky and the poise and swagger that had been so evident earlier on suddenly disappeared. Birmingham made a triple substitution with Stan Lazaridis, Darren Carter and Geoff Horsfield all coming on to help the Blues in the search for an equaliser.
That equaliser came in the fourth minute of injury time when Clinton Morrison, who endured a torrid time on his last visit to Anfield with Crystal Palace, got on the end of a corner from Lazaridis to power a header past Dudek.
Filed by Rob Wright
