More vexing was the ball Gerrard squirted through to Agger’s defensive cohort Martin Skrtel just before half-time; unmarked six yards from goal, the Slovakian could not make Given work with what was ultimately a free-header.

While he failed to win the game for Liverpool, Skrtel did at least save the game for them; when Emmanuel Adebayor skipped clear with 80 minutes on the clock, a deep sense of foreboding gripped every watching Red.

Thankfully, Skrtel kept his poise, stretched out a leg and spirited the ball away from Adebayor, just as he was about to shoot; it was a moment of real quality and so pleasing to see.

Since he suffered knee ligament damage on this ground in October 2008, when Liverpool came from behind in spectacular fashion, Skrtel has often looked a pale shadow of the player that arrived from Zenit St Petersburg.

Shaky, indecisive and seemingly short of confidence, some of his play has left certain observers covering their eyes, fearing an impending calamity – think about his performance at Anfield against the same opposition last November.

Yet here he was much more like the Skrtel Benitez paid a then club record fee for a defender two years ago; he had no margin for error when Adebayor turned on his heels but his tackle was, in a word, impeccable.

Sadly, that word is not one you would use to describe anything else associated with the afternoon and, to make matters worse, Liverpool will face an FA fine after six of their players had their names taken by referee Peter Walton.

This was not a game full of malice or spite, so the number of cautions came as a surprise; saying that, they can consider themselves fortunate that a red card wasn’t shown when Javier Mascherano had an ugly coming together with Gareth Barry.

Walton, mirroring the teams he was officiating, had an erratic afternoon and he could easily have awarded Liverpool a penalty in injury time, particularly if substitute Yossi Benayoun had gone to ground when he tangled with Vincent Kompany.

But, in truth, Liverpool did not do enough to win the match – and if they are going to come out on top in the four way battle for fourth spot, that has to change. Fast.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Given; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Bridge; Ireland (Ibrahim 75), De Jong, Barry; Wright-Phillips (Bellamy 68), Adebayor, Johnson.

LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Reina; Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Insua; Mascherano, Lucas; Babel (Torres 75), Gerrard, Rodriguez (Benayoun 64); Kuyt (Aquilani 84).

Bookings – Mascherano (31), Gerrard (45), Babel (63), Benayoun (67), Kuyt (76), Torres (90)

ATTENDANCE: 47,203

REFEREE: Peter Walton