Liverpool 0
Crystal Palace 2
Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup to First Division Crystal Palace and they have only themselves to blame as they wasted a host of chances that could nearly have given them the same kind of result they achieved against the Eagles in 1990 when Palace were swamped 9-0.
Chief culprit was the out of sorts Michael Owen who missed at least four chances he would, under normal circumstances, be expected to convert. But these are not normal times for Owen whose worst miss came in the first half when the England man scooped the ball over the bar from six yards after a great run and cutback by Diouf.
It was a foreboding sign for the home side, even before kick-off, when the First Division side took the field in all-black, but it was Liverpool who swarmed forward in hordes. Cheyrou hit a poor left foot shot, from a Riise cross, that was tipped over by Berthelin. From the corner the bandaged head of Sami Hyypia, unmarked at the far post, mysteriously sent the ball back across the face of goal despite an inviting gap begging him to score. Unfortunately for Gerard Houllier's side it was another sign of things to come.
Owen's first chance came when he raced through on the left but instead of risking his less favoured left foot, to hook the ball on target, he stabbed the ball with the outside of his right foot and the ball rolled past the far post.
Palace keeper Berthelin, in place of the reprimanded Alex Kolinko, then made himself a hero with an excellent save from Cheyrou after Danny Murphy put him through. Then came the Owen effort that almost cleared the Kop and, significantly, the cheers of support from the home crowd were more in sympathy than understanding.
Owen finished the half with another chance, when he was played through by Heskey, but again the England striker made a hash of a great one-v-one situation.
If one moment summed up the night for the home side, it came two minutes into the second period when a Palace attack was broken up, just in front of the Liverpool penalty area. Heskey sprinted away with the ball at his feet and set off in a straight line for the Palace goal, some 80 yards away. By the time he got there Owen, running like an express train, was alongside him to the right. Heskey chose to ignore his strike partner and then hit the sort of weak shot, which Berthelin grabbed fairly easily, that would have earned any schoolboy striker a rollicking. Instead it turned the game.
Less than ten minutes later Palace were ahead through a stunning Julian Gray goal. Butterfield broke down the right and crossed into the danger area and with half a dozen Liverpool defenders ball-watching, Dele Adebola flicked the ball on towards the far post and, with shades of John Barnes in his pomp, the Palace youngster volleyed home a left foot shot that no keeper would have stopped. Shortly afterwards Andrew Johnson pounced on a mistake by Hamann and raced goalwards but he put his shot inches wide of the post. A blow to Palace's hopes came when Dougie Freedman was sent-off for elbowing Hyypia but when Diouf, having one of his better Liverpool outings, was denied by Berthelin's brave save, the feeling of impending cup exit was all too apparent at Anfield.
That feeling was confirmed just ten minutes from time when Gray again burst down the left and when he fired in a low, hard drive, Stephane Henchoz somehow managed to get his legs in a twist to deflect the ball past Dudek and Palace were through to face Leeds. Deservedly so.
Perhaps the most significant time on the night, certainly as far as Liverpool's immediate future is concerned, came when the home crowd, normally so supportive, vented their anger on the team with a crescendo of boos. It is now 'official': Liverpool have major problems and it is now the greatest test of Gerard Houllier's managerial acumen whether or not he can solve his team's crisis of confidence.
After his team's victory Trevor Francis admitted his team could have been buried. He said: "At half time we could have been out of it because we were totally dominated by Liverpool and they wasted chance after chance.
"I knew that we couldn't get any worse than we were and I think the arrival if Dougie Freedman, just before half time, helped us get hold of the ball in forward areas and we started to pose a bit of a threat in that second period. Of course, there was that Heskey chance, when he went clear, but it was our night."
A subdued Houllier pin-pointed THAT Heskey miss as the turning point. He said: "I thought when Emile missed his chance the whole team seemed to be deflated after that. I was a bit angry with the first goal because I thought we were a bit out of shape and we lost our balance…maybe because we lost a bit of patience sometimes."
As for Palace goalscorer Gray, he was even trying to claim the one that went in off Henchoz, saying: "Why not. Obviously I have scored a few goals recently so the boss has been on my back to try and get in the box and get on the end of things and fortunately tonight I did that."
