William Johnson
In theory, there was a lot riding on this result - Liverpool pressing for a place in the Champions' League and Crystal Palace fighting for their Premiership lives -but in practice both teams seemed to have accepted their fate before engaging in lethargic rivalry.
Palace have only mathematical hope in their season-long relegation battle, while Liverpool know that it will need a collapse of major proportions from the duelling title chasers to prevent them from playing in anything other than the UEFA Cup.
| Marcus Bent |
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| Loses the tackle Photo © Neil Everitt |
Liverpool, ahead on the half hour through Oyvind Leonhardsen's confident strike from a Steve Harkness cross, were toiling after Marcus Bent had scored an opportunist volleyed equaliser.
Thompson, sent into action immediately after that goal, injected fresh enthusiasm into a Liverpool side whose interest in the championship effectively ended with their gallant failure to overcome Manchester United on Good Friday.
Having captured the attention of the Kop with a snap shot which flew over Kevin Miller's crossbar, Thompson, who has just completed his second suspension of the season, was sharper than anybody in a crowded penalty area to profit from a curling cross by the otherwise disappointing Steve McManaman and slide the ball home from the six-yard line.
"I suppose it was an inspired substitution," Liverpool's manager, Roy Evans, said about a 20-year-old player whom he believes has a promising future. "We needed a pair of fresh legs and a bouncy character and Tommo fits that bill. He has got a great touch in the box and he showed that today."
| Marc Edworthy |
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| Outnumbered Photo © Neil Everitt |
That was Friedel's only save, though, making the Palace grievances less than convincing. Not that Liverpool were at their most creative, their manager pointing out the draining effects of playing for so long with 10 men in such intensity at Old Trafford.
"That is not meant as an excuse," added Evans, who admitted that he would have been acutely disappointed had his team failed to take all three points from bottom-of-the-table opposition.
As it was, if Leonhardsen had taken two outstanding opportunities before scoring his first goal of the season, Liverpool would probably have won in a canter.
William Johnson
Report from
byIan Ross
If a manager does not strike a defiant pose he is deemed to be acting in an unprofessional manner, so Liverpool's Roy Evans will continue to talk of titles and Crystal Palace's Attilio Lombardo will continue to dream of survival.
Both, of course, will be disappointed come the season's end. This was drab stuff, what little excitement there was coming late in the game as Liverpool produced a rather familiar storyline.
The only unanswered question at Anfield yesterday was precisely whose testimonial match we were watching.
Those observers who have spent the best part of seven months chortling while pointing out that Palace either cannot play or will not play are misinformed, it is only when they tread the boards at Selhurst Park that they resemble a circus troupe.
While Lombardo would be the first to concede that a team are always more effective when allowed to perform without the pressure of being required to succeed, there was much to applaud in Palace's football. It was too little, too late, but nevertheless was still good to watch.
Although they did struggle to repel Liverpool's countless raids there was, at times, an enviable fluidity to many of their attacks, with Matthew Jansen constantly looking to be the man to puncture the home defence.
As the sun beamed down there was an end-of-term feeling to a fixture which held crucial significance for only the most optimistic, the two managers. So much of the play in central midfield was admirable but there was an irritating absence of chances and cutting edges.
Palace had negotiated 30 largely uneventful minutes without undue fuss and then, rather unexpectedly, the roof caved in on them.
It was down to sloppy defending, a concept which Palace have embraced with some gusto since Christmas.
Steve Harkness's cross into the penalty area from the left flank was orthodox and no more than hopeful, but it was allowed to drift to the far post where Oyvind Leonhardsen arrived unannounced to score clinically.
| Marcus Bent |
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| Celebrates his goal Photo © Neil Everitt |
It was desperate and unrewarding fare which only hinted at better things in the final quarter, when Palace took Liverpool's lethargy as an invitation to seek an equalising goal. They must have been surprised to find their hosts in such a benevolent mood.
Seventeen minutes remained when Liverpool yielded, Marcus Bent finding sufficient time and space to lob a Simon Rodger cross over the exposed goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
But there was still time for Liverpool to seek the forgiveness of their long suffering supporters, even if this was a poor game which did not deserve to produce a winner.
Palace were within six minutes of surviving when they were undone, the 20-year-old substitute David Thompson, from close range, steering in Steve McManaman's low and hard cross.
Ian Ross
