Palace pleased with a point

Crystal Palace left windswept Anfield with their ninth clean sheet of the season and their self respect fully restored.

Four months after they were thrashed 6-1 by Liverpool on their Premiership comeback, the Londoners put the record straight with a solid, industrious defensive display.

Liverpool, now unbeaten at home in 11 games this season, moved back above Nottingham Forest into fourth position. But another lost opportunity leaves them 10 points behind leaders Blackburn and looking less like championship challengers by the week.

The loss of Steve McManaman, out until the New Year after damaging his knee ligaments in Ian Rush's midweek testimonial, is a heavy blow, removing much of the imagination and variety from Liverpool's attack.

Nigel Clough came in for his first league start of the season, with Rush on Welsh duty, but lacked the pace and adventure to repair a family reputation poisoned by his father's Hillsborough comments.

The belated arrival of left-winger Mark Walters and the release of John Barnes from his defensive shackles had Palace rocking in the second half.

But they held out for the final proof that August's result gave a false impression.

To be fair, Alan Smith's young Endsleigh League champions have long shown the benefits of hard work and organisation, conceding just 15 goals in the 21 games since then.

But this was an important watershed for a club that has Liverpool etched deep in their collective memory. Apart from this season, the Londoners suffered an incredible 9-0 basing at Anfield five years ago.

Even without Welshman Chris Coleman, they made life difficult for the home side and restricted them to just two shots on target in the first half.

Jamie Redknapp's effort lacked power and Nigel Martyn was well placed to allow Robbie Fowler's thumping 35th minute drive to nestle into his stomach.

Too many of Liverpool's midfield sat deep, though when Barnes stormed forward he looked as effective as anyone, cracking a 25-yard shot across the face of goal.

The introduction of Walters at the start of the second half and a switch to three at the back produced an immediate improvement.

Fowler, set for an England B cap against the Republic Of Ireland at Anfield on Tuesday, could have broken the deadlock in the first five minutes from the restart, but he missed his shot after beating Dean Gordon and then glanced wide from Michael Thomas' cross.

Martyn stretched to hold a Barnes header, Thomas fired wide and Barnes, released to roam, dipped a 25-yarder just over the bar as the game came to life.

But pushing forward created opportunities for Palace and Phil Babb charged in to clear his lines from Chris Armstrong after the big striker exploited confusion between David James and John Scales.

Bobby Bowry headed off the line from Barnes as Palace creaked, Darren Pitcher threw himself in front of Thomas' shot and Humphrey was booked for a foul on Walters.

But there was an air of resignation long before Clough mustered his first shot of the game, a low drive wide in the 82nd minute, although Walters nearly snatched victory with a swinging shot four minutes later that Martyn parried to safety.

Smith hailed his brave young Palace side: "That's a measure of how far we've come since August 20. It was important that we came out of this game with some credibility and showed how much we've improved. I would have liked to have created a few more chances and won the game. But I'm delighted with the result. That means we've conceded only 13 goals in the last 17 league games which is fantastic. Without detracting from Liverpool's performance in August, I must have still been on my summer holidays. This time I had a week to prepare and knew exactly what I wanted to do. The success of our tactical plan will give us added confidence. I have a young team and they have to start believing in themselves. We are in the Premiership and we aim to stay there."

Liverpool boss Roy Evans admitted that his side's championship chances are receding rapidly: "It's not in our hands - we have to win three games and the others have to lose three. There is a gap and we have to string a run together if we can. We haven't been beaten much but we haven't picked up enough points to say we're on a good run." He added: "It was as hard a game as we expected and you have to give them credit for making it difficult. The few chances we had didn't go in - we hadn't the pace to get round the back of them."

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