Liverpool look to have thrown away their Champions League dream after this
bitterly frustrating Anfield finale.
They may have gone back into third spot on goal difference, but only a miracle
will keep them there now.
Leeds, if they beat Everton on Monday, will put themselves in pole position to
grab that one last, lucrative place in Europe's elite competition.
Liverpool have spent nine months battling to get themselves into the top
three, and have all but thrown it away in 16 agonising days.
Four games, just two points and no goals has seen Gerard Houllier's
painstaking construction of a new Liverpool come apart at the seams.
Their confidence was knocked by that derby draw at Everton, further eroded by
defeats by Chelsea and Leicester and now their nerves have evaporated against a
hard-running, battling Southampton side.
The Liverpool players did the customary lap of honour after their last home
game of a blossoming season, but the cheers and songs were hollow in the end as
the Anfield side will probably have to settle for a UEFA Cup spot that was
assured before a ball had been kicked.
Houllier's promised shake-up saw Dietmar Hamann dropped from midfield, Michael
Owen unable even to make the substitutes' bench while Jamie Carragher went back
to his more orthodox midfield role with Rigobert Song at right -back.
Liverpool's new formation, with Titi Camara and Emile Heskey wide, looked
unbalanced, leaving Robbie Fowler, back for his first start since September,
with little obvious support.
The Saints, with five across the middle and quick-breaking Kevin Davies and Jo
Tessem finding space to attack the home centre backs, looked dangerous on the
break. And their two central defenders, Dean Richards and Tahar El Khalej, got
the sort of easy ride at times they could hardly have expected at Anfield.
Liverpool's early efforts were mainly from long range. Patrik Berger after
five minutes from a Dominic Matteo touched pass, cracked a 20-yarder over.
Then Camara had three long-range shots, all wide of the target and all from
more than 25 yards.
Berger was next to try his long-range luck, a 20-yarder skidded low to Neil
Moss' left, the young keeper touching it wide.
But it was Southampton who had the best chance of the first half when the
clever Hassan Kachloul launched a fine cross into the box from the left, which
was met by Tessem with a powerful header that Sander Westerveld somehow flipped
over.
Four minutes from the break Kachloul spun in the box to volley a fierce drive
that again Westerveld got his hands in the way of, pushing the ball over the
top.
A minute from the break, Sami Hyypia met a Jamie Redknapp ball in from the
right and flicked a header inches wide of the far post, but it had been a
scratchy, unsure display in those first 45 minutes by Liverpool.
It wasn't until the 49th minute that Fowler got in his first shot, a touch,
turn and strike saved by Moss after Song's low cross.
But the ability to embarrass Liverpool was always there for Southampton. After
54 minutes Tessem was put clear, and only a brave, calculated save at his feet
by Westerveld stopped the Norwegian in full stride.
The gamble with Fowler was abandoned after 59 minutes. He'd tried his best,
but it was maybe too much to expect the snap and sparkle to be there after so
long out.
The Kop didn't like Houllier's decision, booing as the disconsolate striker
trudged off to be replaced by David Thompson, but it allowed Liverpool to play
the equally unhappy Heskey through the middle against centre backs having far
too easy a time of it.
Moss had to make two more saves from long-range Berger shots in quick
succession, but what should have been a carnival on their last home game of the
season turned into a day of torture.
Southampton, on the other hand, were fluid and quick on the break, and with a
little more composure could have really punished Liverpool as they strained for
any hint of a breakthrough.
Liverpool, more in desperation than anything else, threw on Hamann and Erik
Meijer in the last 15 minutes. Something, anything, to change the course of a
game that was ebbing away from them.
Saints almost gifted Liverpool a goal on 82 minutes when Richards muffed a
back pass and Heskey stole possession. The eventual ball in from Meijer was met
by Thompson's head, but Moss made yet another sound save.
Stephane Henchoz's header with four minutes left, clipped the bar with Moss
this time beaten as Liverpool mounted a last-ditch barrage. Heskey, who had had
a disappointing time all afternoon, saw a 12-yarder that really should have hit
the target, clear the angle as Anfield held its collective head in anguish.
Teams:
Liverpool: Westerveld, Matteo, Henchoz, Hyypia,
Song (Hamann 77), Berger, Redknapp, Carragher,
Camara (Meijer 80), Heskey, Fowler (Thompson 59).
Subs Not Used: Friedel, Murphy.
Southampton: Moss, Bridge, Richards, El Khalej, Dodd,
Kachloul, Soltvedt, Tessem, Oakley, Davies, Pahars.
Subs Not Used: Marsden, Lundekvam, Benali, Rodrigues, Bevan.
Booked: Dodd.
Att: 44,015
Ref: P Alcock (Halstead).
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