Liverpool's Champions League dreams were dealt a savage, perhaps even fatal, blow as Charlton deservedly increased their own hopes of a first ever appearance in Europe.

Charlton have waited 50 years since they last won a match at Anfield, and they chose a day and game which could have a far reaching impact on Liverpool's future to end that long, long run.

Shaun Bartlett headed home a second-half corner, and Liverpool just did not have the invention, guile and, at times, will to win needed to grab a victory they no doubt expected was theirs before the start.

Charlton were superbly organised, worked and toiled in a great team effort and will find few who will begrudge them their triumph and a double this season over Gerard Houllier's men.

The implications for Liverpool and Houllier could be massive.

They now find themselves no longer with their destiny in their own hands.

Maybe they were still shellshocked by the second-half mauling they received from Thierry Henry on Good Friday.

Maybe they just froze in the sunshine when brave men were needed most.

Or maybe they now are just not good enough to breakdown a professional, workmanlike, committed side as Charlton proved to be.

Liverpool's shattered troops slipped away in bitter despair at the end as Charlton celebrated with their fans, one small corner of Anfield, at least, had a something to smile about.

Liverpool had Stephane Henchoz back in defence following the Arsenal defeat, but otherwise Houllier named the same side.

Charlton went for more midfield toil by leaving out Jason Euell and bringing in Radostin Kishishev in midfield.

The onus was very much on Liverpool to create on a tense afternoon in which Charlton, well organised and competitive, were intent to pressure every man in possession and a refusal to concede space.

Charlton were happy to invite Liverpool onto them, Claus Jensen and Matt Holland working to cut out the passes from Steven Gerrard.

But it still took a fine leaping header from Jonathan Fortune to stop a deep John Arne Riise cross reaching Emile Heskey on the far post.

Then Michael Owen moved in from the right, past two defenders, and into a scoring position which saw Dean Kiely smother his low shot.

But chances and space were extremely limited and Charlton grew in stature, having taken much of the pace out of the game with careful, controlled play.

The home side toiled and probed, but found few inroads into Charlton's defence.

As Liverpool pressed further forward, they were likely to be caught on the break.

Charlton got away through Jensen on the left, and then from the resulting corner the ball was not cleared properly and Jonatan Johansson forced Jerzy Dudek into a flying save to his right.

Heskey got on the end of a succession of crosses, but was never able to find room in the box to get power and direction.

Gerrard was always in the thick of the action and on 40 minutes took a cut-back pass from Jamie Carragher and forced Dean Kiely into a low save to his right with a drive which threaded it's way through a packed box.

The second period saw much of the same.

Liverpool needed invention and it was not really coming quickly enough to trouble Charlton.

Owen created a chance for Gerrard which forced Kiely into a save and Riise's powerful free-kick was blocked before Liverpool made the changes needed on 51 minutes.

Czech pair Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer came on for Heskey and Diouf.

But Liverpool were fortunate not to concede a penalty on 61 minutes when Gerrard looked to push Hermann Hreidarsson in the back as the pair contested a left-wing cross.

When Charlton broke the deadlock two minutes later, it was perhaps nothing they did not deserve.

Jensen flashed over a corner and Bartlett saw his header fly into the top corner.

Liverpool responded with two shots in quick succession from Dietmar Hamann which were both kicked off the line, the need for urgency now growing.

Liverpool had Charlton under siege by now, but they lacked the guile to break through, although Hyypia's nod down did give Owen the chance of a hook-shot which Kiely held.

Owen again, despite having been very quiet during the game, managed to create space for a lofted effort that almost caught out Kiely.

Six minutes from time, the Charlton keeper produced an amazing save on his far post to beat out a Smicer header from Gerrard's swirling cross from the left.

A minute later it looked like Kishishev had tripped Gerrard in the box, but as everyone expected a penalty, referee Phil Dowd booked a stunned Gerrard for diving

That just about summed up Liverpool's day.

Teams

Liverpool: Dudek, Riise, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Kewell, Gerrard, Hamann, Diouf (Smicer 57), Owen, Heskey (Baros 57).

Subs Not Used: Murphy, Cheyrou, Luzi Bernardi.

Booked: Gerrard.

Charlton: Kiely, Kishishev, Hreidarsson, Young, Powell, Fortune, Holland, Jensen, Konchesky, Johansson (Euell 86), Bartlett.

Subs Not Used: Thomas, Royce, Cole, Perry.

Goals: Bartlett 63.

Att: 40,003

Ref: P Dowd (Staffordshire).