Preston NE 0, Liverpool 2: Captain's classic overshadows controversy

Jan 5 2009 by Nick Smith, Daily Post

But then, perhaps most impressive of all aspects of his performance, Gerrard – although he could have scored at least four of his own – knew the game wasn’t all about him and he shunned the late limelight for a far more worthy cause. After all, Torres needs to get up and running again after such a disrupted campaign.

And it was also all about Liverpool starting this year as they ended the last – winning.

Preston manager Alan Irvine feared they would after watching his opponents destroy Newcastle 5-1 as part of his preparation for the game.

If he watched the news during the week he might have been more confident that Liverpool would lose some of that momentum in the wake of their skipper being charged with assault and affray.

But it takes more than that these days, and Benitez was determined to minimise the impact of Gerrard’s plight.

That was actually fine by Irvine, who revealed he was glad a strong line-up turned up to give his players the experience of what a glamorous FA Cup tie is all about.

And any hopes North End had of Benitez going easier on them and continuing his occasional record of easing up on FA Cup assignments were dashed with the team sheets still hot from the photocopier.

The Spaniard has grasped the concept of a winning habit being a good one to take into 2009 and it says a lot about the new-found ruthlessness of Liverpool this season that there was never likely to be a repeat of last year’s pathetic struggles with Luton and Havant, before Barnsley finally put them out of their misery.

But it wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been.

If Robbie Keane had still been on the field before he was replaced by Torres, it’s debatable whether Gerrard would have passed up the chance to score himself. Or if Keane had even been there to tap it in.

The Irishman’s confidence dropped like the temperatures as the game went on, the boost of his two goals against Bolton just eight days earlier seemingly erased by his no-show in the north east two days later.