Reds left to rue seven minutes of madness

SEVEN minutes of unforgivably sloppy defending from Liverpool cost Kenny Dalglish three sorely-needed points and a victory which would have injected some belief and optimism into the ailing giants of English football.

Ultimately, it required a second-half penalty from Dutchman Dirk Kuyt to even earn Dalglish a solitary point — his first as Liverpool’s new caretaker manager — after the home side had completely dominated first-half proceedings but had only a goal from Raul Meireles to show for their superiority.

Within seven minutes of the restart, Liverpool found themselves trailing, to efforts from Sylvain Distin and Jermaine Beckford, and the prospect of Dalglish recording a third consecutive defeat in his brief, second tenure as Liverpool manager looked very real.