Controversial penalty helps Liverpool draw Birmingham City

Skipper's controversial penalty strike helps Liverpool draw 2-2 with Birmingham city and avoid their seventh defeat in nine games

Controversial penalty helps Liverpool draw Birmingham City

Skipper's controversial penalty strike helps Liverpool draw 2-2 with Birmingham city and avoid their seventh defeat in nine games

Steven Gerrard's controversial penalty earned Liverpool a 2-2 Premier League draw with Birmingham City here at Anfield last night after the visitors had earlier fought back to take the lead.

Gerrard, who came off the bench following a groin problem, rescued a point from the penalty spot after David Ngog went down under Lee Carsley's challenge in the penalty area, with the furious Blues insisting the striker had dived.

But the Reds remain seventh in the table with manager Rafael Benitez still facing intense pressure.''

Cheating
However, for once, Benitez's position after Liverpool had dropped points at home was not the major post-match talking point with Carsley accusing Ngog, who had opened the scoring, of an "embarrassing case of cheating" in securing the spot-kick.

"I was absolutely nowhere near him," midfielder Carsley, who used to play for Liverpool's city rivals Everton, told ESPN. "It's a joke.

"I'm sure he (Ngog) has got a family, well if I went home having done that I'd be embarrassed.

"You're supposed to be teaching your kids an example and that is just an embarrassing case of cheating."

Blues boss Alex McLeish added: "This is a shame for the game. He conned the referee and got his team a penalty. Peter Walton is a good referee but he got that one wrong. If it hadn't been for the penalty, I thought we'd have gone on to win it."

Benitez admitted Ngog had told him that maybe he should not have been awarded a penalty but insisted Liverpool deserved more than a point.

"I was talking to him (Ngog) and he said maybe it wasn't a penalty but it was 74 per cent possession again in the first half and it is unbelievable," Benitez said.

"I was really surprised, we had clear chances and we were attacking all the time."

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