Articles
A hard-fought goalless draw
Palace fought out a hard goalless draw here at Selhurst Park and, in recognition of an excellent performance, they were given a standing ovation by this capacity crowd as they left the pitch.
The Eagles fully deserved the draw and pressed so hard towards the end that Gerard Houllier threw on defensive midfielder Igor Biscan for striker El-Hadji Diouf in order to tighten things up.
Hayden Mullins, again playing in defence, put in a star performance against Michael Owen, who had very little service throughout the game. Mullins was surely the man of the match as, alongside Tony Popovic and Kit Symons, he made life difficult for the visiting forward line and they were largely limited to long-range efforts.
Palace could have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute when Dele Adebola flashed a header across the face of goal following an excellent cross from the right by Andy Johnson.
And Adebola was involved again in the 22nd minute for the best chance of the opening half. He burst through the middle before colliding heavily - but fairly - with Chris Kirkland in the Liverpool goal. Kirkland did enough to save Adebola's effort before Johnson saw his shot from the rebound cleared off the line. Kirkland was stretchered off and replaced by Jerzy Dudek.
Emile Heskey probably had Liverpool's best chance on nine minutes but his shot was easily saved by Alex Kolinko. Michael Owen's only opportunity came in the way of a header, which he couldn't keep down.
Julian Gray had a sight of goal towards the end of the half when Curtis Fleming - who made a successful return from injury - found him on the left-hand side of the Liverpool penalty area. Unfortunately, Emile Heskey was on hand to block Gray's goalward effort.
As soon as the second half got underway Palace underlined their intentions by forcing a corner in the opening seconds. Tony Popovic met the resulting delivery well at the far post but his header was saved by Dudek.
In the 56th minute Selhurst Park held its breath when Julian Gray attempted to play the ball back to his keeper, not realizing Kolinko had already come off his line in search of it. The ball rolled past the Latvian but, thankfully for the Eagles, also wide of the far post.
This seemed to give Liverpool a lift as they then bombarded the Palace goal. On 58 minutes Bruno Cheyrou volleyed the ball goalward from 15 yards but Kolinko was equal to it, diving to his right.
And four minutes later an uncharacteristic error by Symons as the back allowed Heskey a run at goal but Mullins was again on hand to clear the danger with an excellent tackle.
Trevor Francis obviously felt Liverpool were getting a hold of the game so he replaced Tommy Black, who was heavily shackled by the Reds defence, with Wayne Routledge in order to give the Eagles a different attacking option. And it was an inspired substitution as the youngster gave John Arne Riise all sorts of trouble down the right.
But it was Liverpool who continued to create the better chances. Danny Murphy picked out Riise on the edge of the box with a 68th minute corner and his low drive took a deflection to leave Kolinko stranded but thankfully it flew wide of the far post.
And a minute later the Reds lofted the ball forward to Heskey but, as the England striker shaped to shoot, Mullins was there once again to nick it off his toe.
As time ticked by Palace began to take control of the game and in the last few minutes a string of corners for the Eagles had the noisy fans perched on the edge of their seats as they sensed a late winner. Popovic nearly produced it with four minutes left but his downward header from a Routledge delivery was somehow scooped over the bar by Heskey on the line.
Copyright - http://www.cpfc.co.uk
The Eagles fully deserved the draw and pressed so hard towards the end that Gerard Houllier threw on defensive midfielder Igor Biscan for striker El-Hadji Diouf in order to tighten things up.
Hayden Mullins, again playing in defence, put in a star performance against Michael Owen, who had very little service throughout the game. Mullins was surely the man of the match as, alongside Tony Popovic and Kit Symons, he made life difficult for the visiting forward line and they were largely limited to long-range efforts.
Palace could have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute when Dele Adebola flashed a header across the face of goal following an excellent cross from the right by Andy Johnson.
And Adebola was involved again in the 22nd minute for the best chance of the opening half. He burst through the middle before colliding heavily - but fairly - with Chris Kirkland in the Liverpool goal. Kirkland did enough to save Adebola's effort before Johnson saw his shot from the rebound cleared off the line. Kirkland was stretchered off and replaced by Jerzy Dudek.
Emile Heskey probably had Liverpool's best chance on nine minutes but his shot was easily saved by Alex Kolinko. Michael Owen's only opportunity came in the way of a header, which he couldn't keep down.
Julian Gray had a sight of goal towards the end of the half when Curtis Fleming - who made a successful return from injury - found him on the left-hand side of the Liverpool penalty area. Unfortunately, Emile Heskey was on hand to block Gray's goalward effort.
As soon as the second half got underway Palace underlined their intentions by forcing a corner in the opening seconds. Tony Popovic met the resulting delivery well at the far post but his header was saved by Dudek.
In the 56th minute Selhurst Park held its breath when Julian Gray attempted to play the ball back to his keeper, not realizing Kolinko had already come off his line in search of it. The ball rolled past the Latvian but, thankfully for the Eagles, also wide of the far post.
This seemed to give Liverpool a lift as they then bombarded the Palace goal. On 58 minutes Bruno Cheyrou volleyed the ball goalward from 15 yards but Kolinko was equal to it, diving to his right.
And four minutes later an uncharacteristic error by Symons as the back allowed Heskey a run at goal but Mullins was again on hand to clear the danger with an excellent tackle.
Trevor Francis obviously felt Liverpool were getting a hold of the game so he replaced Tommy Black, who was heavily shackled by the Reds defence, with Wayne Routledge in order to give the Eagles a different attacking option. And it was an inspired substitution as the youngster gave John Arne Riise all sorts of trouble down the right.
But it was Liverpool who continued to create the better chances. Danny Murphy picked out Riise on the edge of the box with a 68th minute corner and his low drive took a deflection to leave Kolinko stranded but thankfully it flew wide of the far post.
And a minute later the Reds lofted the ball forward to Heskey but, as the England striker shaped to shoot, Mullins was there once again to nick it off his toe.
As time ticked by Palace began to take control of the game and in the last few minutes a string of corners for the Eagles had the noisy fans perched on the edge of their seats as they sensed a late winner. Popovic nearly produced it with four minutes left but his downward header from a Routledge delivery was somehow scooped over the bar by Heskey on the line.
Copyright - http://www.cpfc.co.uk
