Stalemate at Eastlands

Neither Manchester City nor Liverpool could break the deadlock in a dire 0-0 draw at Eastlands.

With both sides harbouring hopes of finishing in the Premier League's top four at the end of the season and earning a place in next year's UEFA Champions League, the clash was expected to be a turning point in the campaign.

However, with managers Roberto Mancini and Rafa Benitez packing the midfields, chances were few and far between and even second-half substitute Fernando Torres made little impact.

The best opportunity of the first period fell to Martin Skrtel just two minutes before the break, but his header was off-target from a corner when he should have done better.

Emmanuel Adebayor had a long-range effort well saved by Pepe Reina in the second-half, and he could have been awarded a penalty late on after going down under the challenge of Daniel Agger, but the game ended in a stalemate.

When the teams were announced, it confirmed a tale of two substitutes. The sad thing was, when an opening period containing exactly zero shots on target ended, the respective benches were still the biggest talking points.

Selection issues

Torres was relatively straightforward. A knee operation that was supposed to rule him out until March had eased sufficiently for Rafael Benitez to put him on the bench, if only for use in emergency.

Predictably, the issues surrounding Bellamy are less clear-cut.

It has now been established beyond question the Welshman's own dodgy knees can no longer stand up to the exhaustive nature of a Premier League season.

Also taken for granted is Bellamy's combustible nature. According to Roberto Mancini, a midweek argument about the best way to treat the injury was nothing serious. Other reports tell a different story.

Bellamy's presence in Mancini's squad at least offered hope any souring of relations is repairable, although as a capacity crowd digested a truly awful opening period, the game itself was in desperate need of his involvement.

Given the scrap now taking place for that coveted fourth Champions League spot, a sense of trepidation could have been forgiven.

What was less easy to ignore was the woeful passing, the negativity and the limited vision. The sight of Steven Gerrard and Maxi Rodriguez running into each other on one Liverpool attack just about summed the whole thing up.

Gerrard was responsible for the visitors' best chance, sending over the corner that Martin Skrtel glanced wide at the far post after Shay Given had failed to come and collect.

At the other end, the only moment to enthuse about was a Pablo Zabaleta shot that would have gone wide had it not hit Emmanuel Adebayor. In such instances, anything can happen. This time, the trajectory of the ball barely altered.

Although it really could not have been worse, the first 15 minutes of the second-half was no better than what had gone before.

Introduction

Benitez was already preparing to introduce Yossi Benayoun for his first appearance since breaking a rib in the same FA Cup defeat to Reading that marked the start of Torres' absence when Adebayor let rip from 20 yards.

Without question it posed the biggest threat to either goal, but Reina proved equal to it, plunging to his right to make an excellent one-handed save.

Benayoun's arrival followed shortly afterwards then, to a standing ovation, Bellamy was introduced.

One Gerrard shot and six minutes later, Torres returned to the fray.

Now, other than a bit of rustiness, there were no excuses for either side being so restricted in their approach.

Almost immediately there was a greater sense of purpose, as both sides began to recognise a victory rather than concentrate purely on the damage of defeat.

Skrtel managed to recover his ground just in time to rob Adebayor as the Togo man was about to shoot. From the corner, Adebayor headed Vincent Kompany's cross over.

Had referee Peter Walton seen an already booked Javier Mascherano drive his studs into Gareth Barry's ankle, Liverpool would have ended up playing the final few minutes with 10 men.

As it was, Mascherano remained on the field until the bitter end. But the only lucky ones today were those who missed it altogether.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.