MURPHY'S LAW PROVES POINT

A prodigious piece of skill from Robbie Fowler, who brought the ball down, turned and chipped Nigel Martyn set up Murphy as the striker's effort agonisingly came down off the bar only for the rebound to be headed home in the 69th minute.

The visitors had taken the lead in the 26th minute through a deflected effort from Harry Kewell, although the point sees them maintain their place at the top of The Premiership.

Leeds started the better of the two sides, although Lee Bowyer was knocked temporarily off his stride by a late challenge from Gary McAllister.

From the resulting free kick, Jerzy Dudek looked somewhat unconvincing in his attempts to clear the ball and Robbie Keane fired over the bar in the fifth minute.

Liverpool's best strikes at goal in a first half devoid of chances was Steven Gerrard's free kick which was blocked and captain Fowler fired wide, as the home side did not get a shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

Referee Alan Wiley bizarrely booked Danny Mills in the 11th minute for an innocuous tug on Gerrard's shirt whilst far worse challenges went unpunished.  Indeed Sami Hyypia was the only other player to be shown the yellow card in the first half, for preventing a free kick from being taken.

The home side had difficulty picking up runners from midfield and Eirik Bakke was another that fired over in the 20th minute when given too much space.

Leeds looked the most likely to break the deadlock and they eventually did so in the 26th minute when a deep corner avoided all and Rio Ferdinand chased the ball to the byline before swinging in a deep cross.  McAllister misjudged his jump and Harry Kewell at the back post launched a shot goalwards that Stephane Henchoz deflected past Dudek.

The main other talking point of the first half came in the 40th minute were the angry scenes that came from Mills beating Gerrard when and getting a free kick on the edge of the box with his team-mates and opponents calling for the ball to be put out as Kewell was injured.

Kewell returned to the fray, but Liverpool were forced into a substitution at half time with the ineffectual Emile Heskey, who was believed to be carrying a knock to his right ankle, replaced by Finn Jari Litmanen.

And it was Litmanen's influence that got the home side back into the game as they looked a totally different side at the beginning of the second half.  He had three chances that all went wide, and with Fowler and John Arne Riise also going close, Liverpool reclaimed the initiative.

With neither side creating a gilt-edged chance it looked as though a piece of individual skill would change the game and so it proved with Fowler's turn and deft chip that set up Murphy for a 69th minute equaliser.

Yet within a minute Olivier Dacourt's through ball almost saw Robbie Keane put Leeds back in front.  The forward claimed he had been held back by Hyypia but still got his shot on target that went underneath Dudek but bounced the wrong side of the post for Leeds.

The game opened up considerably and Fowler had a chance at one end in the 76th minute, capitalising on Ferdinand's mistake only to be blocked and Kewell set off on a typical mazy run at the other and saw his shot go just wide.

Goalscorer Murphy was shown the yellow card for clattering into Bowyer with ten minutes to go but an uneventful last ten minutes was almost enlivened by the Leeds midfielder getting on the end of Mark Viduka's knock down, only to fire his effort just over the bar.

In the end a draw was a fair result for both sides, although Liverpool will be more concerned with coach Gerard Houllier's health, with the Frenchman suffering chest pains at half time and after being treated by the club doctor was taken to hospital.

Click below for match summary:
Liverpool 1 Leeds United 1

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