Tigers make their point at Anfield

Liverpool tried to put on a brave face after yet another home draw dented their title hopes, but Hull boss Phil Brown got straight to the point.

His adventurous, vibrant side had produced an outstanding display to lead by two goals before Steven Gerrard – again – rescued a nervy Liverpool, who claimed a 2-2 draw, the fourth time this season they have failed to beat so-called lesser sides at home.

That is eight points dropped at home already, and although boss Rafael Benitez and veteran defender Sami Hyypia tried hard to sound calm, Liverpool are treading water desperately under the surface.

Brown, though, knows that Anfield is no longer the fortress it should be.

The Reds have now drawn three successive Barclays Premier League games to Hull, Fulham and West Ham, and were held by Stoke back in September.

Brown said: “Manchester United have dropped points away, and that is their biggest downfall at the moment. Chelsea admitted they lost the title last season on their home form, drawing seven games, and that is 14 points lost.

“Liverpool will now be cautious about dropping any more points at home after this. Anfield should be

a fortress, and has been over the years.

“You tend to win titles on your home form, so Liverpool will be maybe a little worried. And we are still waiting for Arsenal’s rich vein of form, so the title race is wide open.”

Chelsea’s seven home draws last season cost them dearly. They lost the title to Manchester United by just two points.

But it could have been worse for Benitez’s men. Hull were ahead through Paul McShane and a Jamie Carragher own goal before Gerrard decided he had seen enough.

Again observers are left wondering just what Liverpool would do without their captain. He rescues them time after time.

But to get Benitez to offer him real praise is like pulling teeth. Of Gerrard’s single-handed rescue mission, Benitez said: “Today it was Gerrard who scored the goals, in the last game it was (David) Ngog, (Ryan) Babel and (Albert) Riera. The previous game it was (Yossi) Benayoun, we have players who can also score goals.

“The captain is a player with quality, and when he plays offensively he has to score goals.”

But Benitez did suggest that he needs more than Gerrard to take responsibility.

He added: “Gerrard is always a threat playing in that attacking midfield role, but we need more people to score goals. We need to see more, especially the players up front, to score more goals.”

And while all this frenetic effort was going on, Robbie Keane cut a sad figure on the bench.

Benitez tried to explain that by saying: “We wanted wingers with pace and ability. Babel and (Nabil) El Zhar were both very good.

“We wanted to get to the line and pulled the ball back, we do not want to play long balls, we are not that sort of team.”