Recent history tells Queens Park Rangers there is no such thing as a foregone conclusion at Manchester City and that molecule of comfort was all Chris Ramsey had left after a damaging defeat by Liverpool. “There is a lesson to take from that,” he said of City’s last-gasp title victory against Rangers in 2012. The lesson being you always have a chance with Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko in the ranks. Ramsey’s options, and prospects of a reprieve, pale in comparison.
Regret abounded at Anfield and both teams are reliant on a glimmer of light from Manchester to achieve unlikely goals. QPR must avoid defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday or will be relegated from the Premier League for the second time in three seasons. Liverpool must hope Manchester United’s sudden slide continues for three more matches and win at Chelsea on Sunday to intensify the pressure on Louis van Gaal’s men, to salvage a trying season with the substantial reward of Champions League qualification. A distant hope perhaps, although Steven Gerrard characteristically is not giving it up.
If Brendan Rodgers was rueful as well as joyful at seeing Gerrard score an 87th-minute winner on his penultimate appearance at Anfield, it was secondary to the frustration of dropping five points at Hull City and West Bromwich Albion in the preceding seven days. The plane that trailed a “Rodgers Out Rafa In” banner over Anfield before kick-off may not have been hired but for those small margins.
Liverpool initially laboured but once Philippe Coutinho directed an astute pass from Rickie Lambert into the top corner of Robert Green’s goal, they should have been out of sight before Leroy Fer levelled for QPR. Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling missed clear openings while Gerrard failed to score from the penalty spot after the reckless Nedum Onuoha hauled Martin Skrtel to the ground. The QPR defender then received a second yellow card for a wild foul on Jordon Ibe and Liverpool’s captain punished the 10 men by glancing Coutinho’s corner into the Kop goal.
Concentration and composure deserted QPR in defence yet Ramsey believes the looming threat of relegation originates at the top end of the pitch. One goal in the last three pressured matches underlines his point. “We have relied a lot on Charlie Austin to score a lot of goals this season,” said the QPR manager. “We haven’t got enough goals from around the pitch. If you look at what we are doing now we have had to put a lot of square pegs in round holes.
“People like Karl Henry have done really, really well out of position and not moaned or whimpered once about it. Clint Hill too, Onuoha. All in different positions at times, and with Bobby Zamora playing with chronic injuries, most of the burden has been on Charlie to score.
“We’ve had kids on the bench because of injuries and I don’t want to go down that route, but at times we’ve had to put kids on the bench who are not ready. The reason is simple, really – the lack of spreading the goals around.”
Rodgers has voiced a similar lament this season but Anfield got the finale it craved when Gerrard headed home the 184th goal of his remarkable Liverpool career. The 34-year-old’s farewell tour has been blighted by injury, substitute appearances and a stamp, but here was one more, possibly final, reminder of the character, not merely the talent, that Liverpool will be losing when their captain departs for LA Galaxy this summer.
“It’s a small bracket of players who have that feeling of never being beaten,” said the Liverpool manager. “Boys like Steven and the [Luis] Suárez’s of the world are never beaten. Suárez, away at Norwich last season, was through on goal and missed while one-on-one. Five seconds later he scored because he has that world-class mentality. I have seen it so many times from Steven in games that I have been involved in and watched over the years.”
Man of the match Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
