Ryan Jarvis provided a glorious highlight at the end of a match in
which City had more than held their own, but still came away with
nothing. City lined up with Helveg in his favoured right-back
position, stepping in for the suspended Edworthy. Otherwise we were
unchanged from the side that started at Pompey.

Neither `keeper had a proper save to make in the first half, with
Dudek only having a few tame efforts to deal with and Greeno not being
tested at all. In fact, it was very much a stalemate as neither side
was able to take control or carve out a decent chance. Doherty had the
first sight of goal, but his shot sailed wide. Then Jonson had our
best chance, but his attempted side-foot lacked conviction. Later,
McKenzie and Doherty both missed with headers. Liverpool were limited
to a few long-range shots, none of which hit the target.

City had a good penalty shout waved away in the second half, as
Carragher clearly handled Huckerby's cross, but Howard Webb's eyesight
was obviously not as good as Philip Dowd's had been on Saturday! A
rare slip from Hyypia almost let McKenzie in, but as Liverpool cleared
they found space behind Charlton, who had been pushing forwards, and
Garcia was able to lob the ball over Greeno to score an undeserved opener.

Worse was to come a few minutes later when Fleming's attempted
clearance hit Pongolle, leaving the substitute striker with a clear
sight of goal. Greeno pulled off his first, and only, save of the
match, but was unlucky to see Riise on hand to tap home the rebound
from close range.

Worthington made a few changes, swapping Mulryne, McKenzie and then
Francis for Brennan, Crow and Jarvis, and it was City's youngest ever
player who made his mark, although Crow showed some nice touches and
made some good runs. With the clock running down, Jonson played the
ball out to Ryan Jarvis on the right wing. The young City striker cut
inside the defender and crashed home a powerful drive into the top
corner. That set up a frenetic finale, but City were unable to fashion
another chance. MLS