The Times
August 20, 2007

Chelsea wolf bites Red Riding Hood
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Oliver Kay at Anfield

It started as a fairytale afternoon for Liverpool's new darling,
slowly turned into a nightmare for the referee as Chelsea fought back
and ended, amid plenty of mud-slinging afterwards, with Rafael BenÍtez
talking about Little Red Riding Hood. If this is a sign of things to
come in the Barclays Premier League title race, it promises to be a
season full of twists, turns and a taste of the bizarre.

Frank Lampard's second-half penalty earned Chelsea a draw that they
will treasure after falling behind to an early goal from Fernando
Torres, on his Anfield debut, but that does not begin to describe the
events of a quite breathless afternoon.

Throw in the hugely controversial nature of that penalty, nine
bookings – or ten if you include the rogue second yellow card that Rob
Styles, the referee, brandished to Michael Essien during a tense
second period – some spiky postmatch comments and, lest it gets
overlooked, some good football from both teams, and you start to get
the picture.

Little Red Riding Hood? That cropped up in the postmatch press
conference when BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, was informed that José
Mourinho had responded to Steven Gerrard's criticism of Chelsea by
painting a picture of an angelic, or at least "naive", team. BenÍtez
smirked. "Then I am Little Red Riding Hood," he said. "Look at their
team and ask yourself how many times their players do the things they
say they don't do. Their players talk to the referee all the time."

And they do, as Sir Alex Ferguson, among others, has observed in the
past. Mourinho expressed outrage at such accusations in the postmatch
press conference, but, if ever – perish the thought – a team was to
harangue a referee in the hope of planting a seed that might later
come to fruition, it was here. Only Styles knows why he awarded
Chelsea a penalty in the 62nd minute, when Steve Finnan and Florent
Malouda were involved in an entirely inoccuous collision, and only he
knows why he opted to wave a second yellow card at Essien soon
afterwards if, as he claims, he was not booking the player.

Both BenÍtez and Gerrard, his captain, sounded sick at the award of
the penalty and it was hard not to sympathise. Liverpool, to borrow
BenÍtez's favourite phrase, had been in control of the game for the
first 45 minutes and had taken a deserved lead through Torres, their
club record signing from Atlético Madrid.

Chelsea got a foothold earlier in the second half, after replacing
Salomon Kalou with Claudio Pizarro, but it still took a remarkable
intervention from Styles to change the complexion of the game – or at
least to give Lampard the opportunity to do so, which he duly took.

Mourinho said that he felt it was a fair result. Perhaps in one sense,
if one looks beyond the injustice of the penalty, it was. Even
Chelsea's most unedifying quality, the one that sees John Terry and Co
swarming around the referee any time a decision goes against them, is
a manifestation of the mentality that Mourinho has instilled in his
team. Three times in as many matches this season they have conceded
the first goal – and doubtless this will be a source of concern to the
Portuguese perfectionist after an otherwise productive first week of
the campaign – but on each occasion they have fought back strongly.
And yesterday's point, gained at the expense of Liverpool, could in
some way prove as precious as the three they won against Birmingham
City and Reading.

But, no matter what other conclusions Mourinho might draw from this
game, he is likely to have departed Merseyside in the knowledge that
Liverpool are capable of posing a serious threat in the title race
this season. Their first-half performance was highly impressive, with
Gerrard and Xabi Alonso pulling the strings – the former with the
benefit of a painkilling injection after sustaining a broken toe that
is likely to keep him out of England's match against Germany on
Wednesday – Jermaine Pennant a menace on the right wing and,
significantly, Torres showing signs of quality in attack.

Recent history carries a few cautionary tales for Liverpool's
supporters – Nigel Clough, Stan Collymore and even El-Hadji Diouf
scored on their Anfield debuts – but Torres appears to have something
about him. He is no great physical specimen – witness the number of
times he hit the deck in the first half, with Terry imploring the
referee to book the forward for diving – but his goal in the sixteenth
minute as, having been sent clear by Gerrard, he bamboozled Tal Ben
Haim before stroking the ball past Petr Cech, was a moment of genuine
class. Anfield has a new hero.

Torres also appears to have brought a slickness to Liverpool's play,
one that could have reaped dividends in the second half, as some
impressive moves resulted in chances for John Arne Riise and Dirk
Kuyt, but Chelsea remain a fearsome proposition.

Their second-half fightback was strong, with Pizarro narrowly missing
with a far-post ahead two minutes after his introduction, and it was
the Peru forward who set up the move that culminated the equaliser,
releasing Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose cross resulted in that infamous
collision between Finnan and Malouda. A "phantom penalty" to go
alongside Luis GarcÍa's "phantom goal" for Liverpool in the 2005
European Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield. Inevitably, Mourinho
mentioned that goal last night. And if he cannot give it up after
yesterday, he never will.

Liverpool 1 Torres 16
Chelsea 1 Lampard 62 (pen)

How they rated

Liverpool 4-4-2 J M Reina Y 6 S Finnan 7 J Carragher 7 D Agger 8 Á
Arbeloa 7 J Pennant Y 7 X Alonso 7 S Gerrard Y 8 J A Riise 6 F Torres
7 D Kuyt Y 7 Substitutes R Babel (for Pennant, 76min), P Crouch (for
Riise, 83) Not used C Itandje, S Hyypia, J Mascherano

Chelsea 4-4-2 P Cech 7 M Essien Y 5 T Ben Haim Y 5 J Terry Y 7 A Cole
Y 6 S Wright-Phillips 6 J O Mikel 6 F Lampard Y 6 F Malouda 6 S Kalou
5 D Drogba 6 Substitutes C Pizarro 6 (for Kalou, 46min), J Cole (for
Wright-Phillips, 77), Alex (for Malouda, 85) Not used C Cudicini, C
Makelele

Referee R Styles
Attendance 43,924

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Telegraph:

Penalty ignites Benitez feud with Mourinho
By Tim Rich

Liverpool (1) 1 Chelsea (0) 1

The voice of Anfield's Tannoy announcer was almost choked with glee.
"I just want to point out that this is Manchester United's worst start
to the season in 15 years," he shouted. They talk a lot about history
at Liverpool but, had they checked, they would have discovered that
the 1992-93 season finished with Sir Alex Ferguson winning his first
Premier League title.

You can tell little by beginnings, but this was a match that showed
the balance of power in the Premier League is very slowly shifting
under the patent leather shoes of the big clubs. On Chelsea's last two
visits to Anfield, they had seen their hopes of a third Premier League
and a first European Cup final drain away, and now they limped home to
London grateful for a point.

Having turned down a firm commitment to come to Merseyside, citing the
Ashley Cole argument that a few thousand extra a week would make a
significant difference to a millionaire lifestyle, Rafael Benitez had
little love for Florent Malouda.

The Liverpool manager would have even less desire to resume his summer
conversations with the French winger as he attempted to dummy Shaun
Wright-Phillips' cross and collided with Steve Finnan. The ball rolled
out to an unmarked Didier Drogba, no Chelsea player appealed, Rob
Styles, standing a few yards away, indicated a penalty. It was a
dreadful decision, although not quite as ridiculous as one the referee
was to make later in the game when he did not send off Michael Essien
despite showing him a second yellow card.

Significantly, Mourinho did not attempt to defend the penalty, except
to argue that Chelsea had suffered so many setbacks at Anfield,
including Luis Garcia's "ghost goal" in the 2005 European Cup
semi-final, that they deserved some fortune.

It was a curiously similar penalty to the one Malouda had won in the
World Cup final, the one Zinedine Zidane had clipped home via an
Italian crossbar. Frank Lampard converted, but, thereafter, a point
appeared to be the limit of Chelsea's ambitions on a ground where they
had won 4-1 in October 2005.


When Benitez threw on Peter Crouch, Mourinho responded with a
defender, Alex. "When I saw their giant come off the bench I thought
it was time to bring my giant on," he said. "But we tried to win for
85 minutes. We never play here with our ideal team; last year I had to
use Michael Essien as a centre half."

Then, Essien had been all but humiliated. This time by pressing him
into service as a right back Mourinho deprived himself of his
likeliest candidate to win him the midfield. He was also extremely
fortunate to finish the game. Essien had already been booked when, not
for the first time, Tal Ben-Haim proved unable to cope with the pace
of Fernando Torres. John Terry was booked for protesting and so, too,
was Essien for a second time.

Significantly, Chelsea were stretched almost to breaking point by two
men who had rejected their money, Torres and Steven Gerrard. Benitez's
policy of risking the broken toe his captain sustained in Toulouse and
pulling him out of England's friendly with Germany was absolutely
vindicated in one sumptuous pass that released all of Torres' pace and
skill.

It may be time to end the speculation that had Mourinho signed Ben
Haim from Bolton in January he might have salvaged Chelsea's title.
The Israeli blundered in, was wrong-footed and looked up to see Torres
slide his shot past Petr Cech.

The equaliser, however, would have done nothing to ease the dislike
Benitez feels for Mourinho. When reminded of the Chelsea manager's
observation that his were a "pure, naive team", Benitez quipped that
if that were true, he was Little Red Riding Hood. There is no doubt
whom he sees as the Big Bad Wolf.

When congratulating Chelsea for breaking Liverpool's record of 63
unbeaten home matches set in the days of Bob Paisley, he talked of
Claudio Ranieri, under whom the run began, and Roman Abramovitch, who
had paid for it. Mourinho, who had supervised most of Stamford
Bridge's triumphs, was mentioned not at all.

Man of the match: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 9 • Assist for Torres'
goal • 82% accurate passes • Completed 80% successful passes

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Indy:

Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1: Malouda leap leaves Benitez feeling bitter
By Andy Hunter

There was no mention of Jose Mourinho as Rafael Benitez paid a pointed
tribute to Chelsea's 64-game unbeaten home record in his programme
notes yesterday but, however much he may wish otherwise, the Liverpool
manager will not find it so easy to write his rival out of his pursuit
of the Premiership title this season.

Only a highly-contentious penalty award prevented Liverpool
maintaining their 100 per cent start to the campaign at a soaked
Anfield yesterday, the Kop's chorus of condemnation for the referee
Rob Styles on the final whistle deafening following his dampening of
what had promised to be an impressive announcement of intent from
Fernando Torres.

The afternoon had promised much for Liverpool as they attempt to
develop into genuine championship contenders this term, the
performance bright and belligerent and even the PA announcer
struggling to contain his elation at events in Manchester as he
revelled in United's worst start to a Premiership season for 15 years
before kick-off. But this was an opportunity lost.

There was a shrug from Roman Abramovich in the directors' box at
full-time, yet it should have been relief that shaped Chelsea's
reaction to a game in which they struggled to assert authority.

Last week they had passed Liverpool's record of 63 home games unbeaten
with victory over Birmingham, an achievement that prompted Benitez to
write, "It is a record that was started by Claudio Ranieri when Roman
Abramovich arrived at the club and we must congratulate them," and his
spitefulness would not have eased after these events. "It was a very,
very unfair decision," insisted Steven Gerrard. "Unbelievable," stated
his manager. "Unbelievable."

These sides have made a habit of nullifying their opponents' attacking
edge beyond the boredom threshold in recent years and it was therefore
an enthralled Anfield, and disgusted Chelsea bench, that saw the
visitors prised apart and punished with beautiful simplicity by
Gerrard and Torres in the 16th minute.

The Liverpool captain, toe fractured yet instrumental in a strong
opening from the home side that should have yielded a breakthrough
from John Arne Riise after only 110 seconds, put the Spaniard clear
with a weighted diagonal ball down the left, and the striker then
showed the skill, acceleration and finishing worthy of a £26.5m club
record signing. Tal Ben-Haim came across to cover but Torres glided
away from the Israeli defender with ease before steering his shot into
the far corner of Petr Cech's goal, a fine way to open his Liverpool
account and to suggest he could have a major influence on the club's
title aspirations this season.

Benitez has long stressed the value of taking the lead in fixtures
against the big four, usually after Liverpool had again failed to do
so during their meagre return of four points from a possible 36 under
his stewardship prior to yesterday, and the impact of the striker in
whom he has invested so much money and reputation threatened
widespread significance until his second major transfer target of the
summer, Florent Malouda, left his own indelible mark on the contest
wearing the blue of Chelsea.

The French international, who Benitez has indicated rejected a move to
Anfield only because of the better personal terms on offer at Stamford
Bridge, had embodied the frustrations Chelsea encountered in
attempting to escape the limpet-like attentions of a Liverpool team
inspired by Gerrard in all areas of the pitch. Though Salomon Kalou
and John Terry both failed to capitalise on half chances before
half-time and the substitute Claudio Pizarro squandered an inviting
header at the back post moments after the restart, Mourinho's side had
failed to exert any meaningful pressure on Jose Reina in the Liverpool
goal until gifted a penalty by Styles in the 62nd minute.

Contact was clearly made by Steve Finnan in the back of Malouda as
they converged on a Shaun Wright-Phillips pass but only as a
consequence of the left-winger leaping into the Liverpool full-back as
he attempted to dummy the ball for the waiting Didier Drogba. Styles,
however, saw differently, awarding the spot-kick that allowed Frank
Lampard to send Reina the wrong way in the goal where he registered
Chelsea's only success in the Champions League semi-final shoot-out.

The Chelsea equaliser was merely the start of a contentious period for
the Hampshire official whose generosity with the yellow card appeared
to create his own Graham Poll-moment in the 73rd minute. Booking
Terry, on his return from a medial knee ligament injury, for
remonstrating with the theatrical Torres, Styles also waved a card in
the direction of the dissenting Michael Essien for what would have
been his second yellow yet failed to produce a red card. It took
clarification from the fourth official to explain that the card was
meant for the Chelsea captain only, but Liverpool's annoyance would
not be satisfied.

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Styles pulls Poll's card trick and Chelsea escape


Kevin McCarra at Anfield
Monday August 20, 2007
The Guardian


The teams could not be prised apart but this was an afternoon when
Liverpool's spirits soared and plummeted. A likely victory was taken
from them with the dubious award of a penalty by the referee, Rob
Styles, whose form was so poor that he would have been substituted
well before the interval had he been a player. Despite denials the
footage suggests that, like Graham Poll at last year's World Cup, he
showed a second yellow card to a miscreant without dismissing him.

Michael Essien was the player in question and the incident involved
prolonged wrangling over a decision in the 73rd minute. Styles
attracts sympathy purely because the badgering of him by John Terry
and others had, as is so often the case when Chelsea are at work, been
frequent. There will be complaints about that, yet the proud obstinacy
of these visitors has to be recognised as well.

There never was a sense, following the interval, that they would
necessarily be downed by Liverpool. The 62nd-minute penalty came when
the substitute Claudio Pizarro sent an incisive pass down the right to
Shaun Wright-Phillips. As the winger's low cross ran along the face of
the area, Florent Malouda, attempting a dummy to the benefit of Didier
Drogba, jumped and turned, making himself as responsible as Steve
Finnan for the contact. Frank Lampard, undistracted by shame, slotted
the penalty smoothly.

When Jose Mourinho emerged later, he raised again the extremely
questionable goal from Luis Garcia that eliminated Chelsea in the
Champions League semi-final of 2005. Any sweep would have been won by
the person guessing that the Portuguese would launch into the topic
within moments of yesterday's penalty being raised.

Nevertheless, when the bickering is over, few will claim that the
result itself was a travesty. John Arne Riise might have scored for
Liverpool and John Terry, returning from injury, could have forced a
Lampard free-kick over the line. If Didier Drogba had enjoyed one of
his superhuman moments, he could have claimed an earlier equaliser
instead of heading Wright-Phillips's cross wide from beyond the far
post.

If Liverpool can stop themselves from recycling this fixture endlessly
in their minds, they will reach some sort of serenity by dwelling on
Fernando Torres's first competitive goal for the club on his Anfield
debut.

There was an immediate satisfaction for Rafael Benítez in the
banishment of any fear that the £26.5m striker would begin his Premier
League career with a long and much publicised wait to get off the
mark.

Better still, it was a goal that would most likely have been beyond
Liverpool's scope had they not bought the Atlético Madrid attacker.
Steven Gerrard, particularly impressive considering his fractured toe,
hit a good pass down the left towards Torres in the 16th minute. If
Tal Ben Haim imagined he was in command of the situation, he was
disabused of the idea in explosive fashion.

There was speed as Torres went outside the Israeli, then conviction
and delicacy as he opened up his body to roll a right-footed shot
across Petr Cech and into the net at the far post. It turns out that
there can still be Thierry Henry goals in England even if the
Frenchman has decamped to Camp Nou.

While Chelsea had no such star quality, they are in an engrossing
phase. Mourinho's concept of innovation would not previously have
embraced a trend that entailed his men conceding the first goal in the
three Premier League fixtures with which their season has begun. The
manager will tolerate that, or pretend to do so, because there is a
suppleness to the side he is developing.

The system was fluid and, while there were periods when it resembled
the old 4-1-3-2 formation, there is a key difference in having the
versatile Mikel John Obi rather than the magnificent specialist Claude
Makelele in the holding role. If the younger man cannot be the
guardian of the back four to the same extent, he should make a more
varied contribution to the team.

Liverpool and Chelsea cannot be sure what they will become but there
is no doubt that an abrasive rivalry will continue.

Man of the match Fernando Torres

No one could dominate a fixture as hard-bitten as this but the
debutant came up with the most memorable contribution.

Best moment The pace, confidence and refinement of the goal that put
Liverpool ahead.
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Mail:

You've blown it Styles - own up to blunders, says Gerrard
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

By NEIL ASHTON

After doing his talking on the pitch, Steven Gerrard could not be
faulted for having his say after the final whistle.

For 62 minutes at Anfield yesterday, the Liverpool captain had driven
Chelsea to distraction with a performance that slipped effortlessly
between the sublime and supreme.

He ignored the pain of a fractured toe to set up Liverpool's opening
goal with a superb pass but then came the moment that will rankle for
the rest of the season. It has taken Jose Mourinho over three years to
exact revenge for Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal' in the Champions League
semi-final but he was repaid with interest when referee Rob Styles
awarded a highly-controversial penalty in the second half.

"Which penalty?" demanded a flustered Benitez as he began the inquest
and the Liverpool manager was certainly not short of sympathy. The
Premier League title will not be won or lost on the moment Florent
Malouda collapsed inside the penalty area under pressure from Steven
Finnan but it will certainly not be forgotten.

"We felt that the referee did not play well," said Gerrard. "If
players have to hold their hands up when they play badly so should
referees."

On that basis, Styles should walk the streets for the next week with
his right arm reaching for the sky.

Big games are for big names but Styles refused to explain his decision
to award Chelsea's controversial penalty and he also sidestepped the
issue of Michael Essien.

The Chelsea right back was booked in the first half and television
replays clearly showed him being cautioned for dissent when Tal Ben
Haim tripped Fernando Torres on the edge of the area in the 72nd
minute.

It was another remarkable moment of good fortune for Chelsea but it
was the decision to award the penalty that had brought them back on
level terms. Until then, Liverpool had been in complete control.
Gerrard, who will tell England coach Steve McClaren this morning that
he will not be joining up with the national squad, weighed in with
another towering display in the centre of midfield.

The Liverpool skipper ran Chelsea ragged with a performance of pace,
power and poise. Mikel John Obi, who played in the holding midfield
role, was terrorised throughout a first half that Gerrard dictated.

McClaren will have been marvelling at a performance that put his
England colleagues in the shade but Wembley will not be witnessing a
display like that on Wednesday. His exuberance earned him a booking
just before half-time but by then Liverpool were ahead and threatening
to score more.

Gerrard provided the stellar moment of an absorbing first half when
Chelsea's midfield gave him the freedom of Merseyside to deliver a
weighted pass into the path of Torres with the outside of that
mercurial right boot.

With Essien hopelessly out of position, Torres showed Ben Haim one way
and then the other before beating him for pace and curling the
sweetest of shots beyond Petr Cech.

That is what you get for £24million and the Spaniard continued to
tease and torment. Chelsea's players complained to the referee that he
was practising the dark arts but, in truth, they could not contain
him.

Instead, they simply took him out whenever he threatened to add to
Liverpool's lead. He has added another dimension to their attacking
thrust but Liverpool will have to find other ways to open up teams if
they are to compete for the title.

Gerrard delivers week in, week out — remember his winning goal at
Aston Villa on the opening day of the season — but Dirk Kuyt, Jermaine
Pennant, Xabi Alonso and John Arne Riise must also shoulder some
responsibility. Benitez's side always raise their game for the visit
of Chelsea and they had leaders all across their back line.

They coped with Mourinho's tactical switch at the break, when he
replaced the ineffective Salomon Kalou with Claudio Pizarro, but there
was nothing they could do about the decision to award Chelsea a
penalty. Even Malouda looked slightly sheepish when Styles pointed to
the spot but Frank Lampard took responsibility.

Abramovich, in the directors' box alongside his girlfriend, put his
head in his hands when Lampard placed the ball on the spot but he had
nothing to worry about.

Lampard may have missed a penalty in the Community Shield against
Manchester United but he made no mistake with a drilled effort to Pepe
Reina's right.

Honours even but Liverpool continued to press. Benitez is under
pressure to deliver the club's first league title since 1990 but
Mourinho shut up shop with his substitutions. Joe Cole, who had spent
the previous 77 minutes attempting to attract the manager's attention
by sprinting up and down the touchline, was finally brought on for
Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Five minutes from time, Alex was brought on to keep Peter Crouch quiet
but Liverpool threatened relentlessly. Cech blocked Riise's effort at
his near post, Kuyt's header was tipped over the crossbar and the Kop
celebrated their own ghost goal when Ryan Babel's effort hit the side
netting.

"We tried to win the game and it was only in the last five minutes
when I saw their giant come off the bench I decided to put mine on,"
said Mourinho.

"So many times we have been unfortunate in this stadium. I really
don't know if it was a penalty."

Sorry, Jose, you will just have to trust Benitez on this one.
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Mirror:

Raf justice as woeful Styles triumphs over Kop substance

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE LIVERPOOL 1 CHELSEA 1 CONTROVERY AT ANFIELD
Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer 20/08/2007

You Can forget the "ghost goal", now, Jose . And be thankful for the
ghost penalty.

On a day when Manchester United wobbled again, their two most likely
challengers had the chance to show why they both believe this could be
their year.

This should have been remembered as the game where Rafa Benitez's
new-look Liverpool showed they are the real deal, where Fernando
Torres began his love affair with The Kop and Steven Gerrard proved
that even with a broken toe, nothing can break his spirit.

Or the match where Mourinho's men demonstrated their resolve and
refusal to yield even when playing nowhere near their best.

But now it will always be inextricably linked to the man who got the
got the big decision wrong.

This match was all about Rob Styles.

On the hour the ball ran to Florent Malouda just inside the box. The
Frenchman's dummy, and a fairly obvious block of Steve Finnan, allowed
the ball to run through to Didier Drogba.

If there was a foul, at all, it had been committed by the Chelsea man,
and Mr Styles, eight yards away, could not have had a better view.

Instead, to the disbelief of the everyone inside Anfield, Styles
pointed to the spot.

Frank Lampard's conversion, struck unerringly into the bottom corner,
meant that Mourinho stole away with a point his Chelsea side simply
did not deserve - pay-back time for Luis Garcia's 2005 Champions
League semi-final winner.

If left Chelsea seven points clear of United, three ahead of
Liverpool, and still unbeaten.

And while referees do make mistakes, they should not be this blatant,
this clear-cut, this crucial.

Let there be no argument, Liverpool deserved far better.

Where Mourinho got it so spectacularly right at halftime at Reading in
midweek, yesterday, for 45 minutes, he got it just as comprehensively
wrong. Michael Essien was patently unfit, Shaun Wright-Phillips a fish
out of water through the middle and Drogba forced to battle away
single-handedly up front. With Gerrard irrepressible and Liverpool
flying out of the traps, there was only one side calling the shots.

John Arne Riise's poor touch, after Essien's second-minute error,
spared Chelsea once but when Gerrard brilliantly led the counter in
the 16th minute, it left Torres one on one against Tal Ben Haim.

It was not a contest. The Israeli defender showed the £26million
Spaniard the outside but could do nothing to prevent Torres exploding
into the space inside the box, before opening his body brilliantly and
steering past Petr Cech and in off the post.

Not a bad way to mark your home bow, especially from a player whose
natural striking instincts have been doubted.

Chelsea were floundering. Salomon Kalou did nothing on the right,
Malouda was invisible, John Obi Mikel exposed. Only once, when skipper
John Terry stole in at the back post but failed to make proper contact
to Lampard's spearing free-kick, had they genuinely threatened.

Mourinho, belatedly, recognised his folly, sending on Claudio Pizarro
for Kalou and putting Wright-Phillips in his natural position.

Yet Liverpool remained in the ascendency and Xabi Alonso should have
hit the target rather than stabbing wide.

It was to prove a costly miss, as Mr Styles showed his generosity to
the visitors. Liverpool, rightly angered, looked to respond and lifted
their game. Gerrard eased past Ashley Cole but blazed into The Kop,
before Riise's flashing volley flew wide from 14 yards.

Cue Mr Styles again, seemingly booking Essien for a second time - the
African felt he was about to see red - and then failng to give a
corner after Cech's fingertips denied Dirk Kuyt. Liverpool kept coming
and the pace of substitute Ryan Babel gave Riise another chance at the
far post, with Cech spreading himself superbly.

Yet as Mourinho and Benitez prepared to restart the war of words, the
jeers at the final whistle were directed squarely at the man in black.
If his call matters in the final analysis next May, Mr Styles will
have to take a long, hard look at himself.

Liverpool: Reina 6; Finnan 7, Carragher 8, Agger 6, Arveloa 6; Pennant
7 (Babel, 68, 6), Gerrard 8, Alonso 7, Riise 7 (Crouch, 83, 6); Torres
7, Kuyt 7.

Chelsea: Cech 6; Essien 5, Ben Haim 5, Terry 6, A Cole 6; Kalou 5
(Pizarro 46, 7), Wright-Phillips 6 (J Cole, 77, 6), Mikel 5, Lampard
6, Malouda 4 (Alex, 85, 6); Drogba 7.

Referee: ROB STYLES

LIVERPOOL V CHELSEA

44% POSSESSION 56%

3 SHOTS ON TARGET 1

10 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5

3 OFFSIDES 1

5 CORNERS 2

12 FOULS 18

4 YELLOW CARDS 5

0 RED CARDS 0

ATTENDANCE: 43,924

Man Of The Match: Gerrard
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Sun:

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1


By PHIL THOMAS
August 20, 2007

TWO months ago, Rafa Benitez would have wrung Florent Malouda's neck,
after the Frenchman opted against joining Liverpool.

One can only imagine what the Kop boss would do if he ran into the
Chelsea star now, after the wide-boy's outrageous con trick saved a
point for the Blues.

Malouda was all set for Anfield before a U-turn saw him head for the
bright lights of London instead — and a move, Benitez insists, fuelled
by greed as much as desire.

Benitez contents himself with a wry smile and a knowing pat of the
wallet whenever Malouda's name crops up. Until yesterday, that is.

For the £13.5million buy from Lyon suckered referee Rob Styles into
pointing to the spot for the most ridiculous of dives across Steve
Finnan.
Replays showed Malouda was throwing himself down before Finnan was
anywhere near him.

It was that blatant not even Didier Drogba was seriously appealing!

But Frank Lampard was not about to argue the point and drilled a low
penalty into the corner.

The equaliser was probably deserved. What was infuriating was the fact
it came courtesy of as blatant a piece of gamesmanship — cheating in
any other language — as you will see all season.

And, most laughable of all, when Fernando Torres threw himself to the
ground under a second-half Tal Ben Haim challenge, the ref was
surrounded by men in Blue — brandishing imaginary cards.

Torres, it must be said, does not need too big a nudge to go down —
although he is still miles away from winning a place in the West
London School of Ballet. Sorry, make that the Chelsea side.

But he certainly has a sharp eye for goal — and he took just 15
minutes to prove it yesterday.

First, he showed great instinct in pulling away from Ben Haim on the
left edge of the box, giving Steven Gerrard the chance to pick him out
from halfway.

Then he showed the coolest of heads as he skipped away from the
Israeli centre-back, before opening his body and sliding the ball in
off the far post.

Torres was bought to fill the role of natural goalscorer, a gap
created by the departure of the ageing Robbie Fowler.

But the finish yesterday was pure Michael Owen in his pomp — running
at defenders, daring them to dive in — and needing only half an
opening to finish the job.

Not even Chelsea, for all their willingness to complain at anything
and everything that went against them, could whinge about the justice
of Liverpool's lead.

In fact, they should have been behind inside three minutes when
Michael Essien misjdged Jermaine Pennant's deep cross.

John Arne Riise, unmarked on the left of the box, cushioned it on his
instep but not enough to stop Petr Cech dashing out to smother.

Then Gerrard unleashed a first-time rocket that was certainly
goalbound until it struck Lampard — although, to be fair, there is
rather more of the Chelsea star than most midfielders. Gerrard was
running the show in the heart of the engine room but Jose Mourinho's
men have not won two titles without having the heart for a scrap.

And slowly, surely, they grabbed a foothold — as much down to the game
becoming a bad-tempered series of niggles and fouls as anything else.

From one of them, Lampard curled over a free-kick that only needed the
faintest contact from John Terry to level things.

The more the football degenerated, the more Chelsea came into it.

One thing is for certain, if they are going to regain their crown they
certainly are not going to do it by winning pretty.

It was hardly helped by an official who never entirely had things
under control — and when he did, got as many decisions wrong as he did
correct.

A staggering NINE yellow cards are testimony to the point.

Although even that figure probably wouldn't be high enough if you
asked the ever-moaning Ashley Cole.

The England full-back's bleating could have cost his side dear when he
led that procession of men demanding Torres be booked.

Ref Styles finally showed some backbone in giving a home free-kick in response.

But by then Liverpool had resorted to a succession of long balls and
the chance of a winner was as likely as Malouda winning a
stay-on-your-feet contest.

Not that there weren't any openings — and Riise went as close as
anyone with a volley wide, while Ryan Babel rippled the side-netting
after cutting inside.

Keeper Cech then showed great reactions in diving backwards to tip
Dirk Kuyt's goal-bound header over the bar.

Styles, as you may have guessed, missed it and gave a dead ball.