Liverpool 3 Wigan 2:THE GRAFTON, that notorious Liverpool pick-up joint and birthplace of the "Grab A Granny" night, closed its disreputable doors for the final time last week.

The spirit of spending the final minutes in nervous anticipation of a guaranteed end result, however, lives on at Anfield. Liverpool have suddenly gained an unexpected reputation as the great dramatists of this campaign for the frequency of their relentless comebacks, four and counting in the Premier League, five in total.

For now, the Liverpool manager is obliged to enjoy the ride but he is also too experienced to accept that challenge can continue to be left to chance. "I don't like to do it this way," conceded Benitez after Dirk Kuyt's 85th-minute scissor kick had kept Liverpool level on points with Chelsea, who they face at Stamford Bridge next Sunday, and, moreover, after referee Alan Wiley had produced an equally telling contribution in sending off Wigan's Luis Antonio Valencia.

Deservedly ahead through Amr Zaki's stupendous overhead kick their prospects of a famous scalp were fatally undermined when Valencia was dismissed 16 minutes from time. Albert Riera drove home Liverpool's second equaliser with 10 minutes remaining. Then Kuyt, the earlier beneficiary of Daniel Agger's successful attempt to atone for the dreadful error that gifted Zaki the game's opening goal, volleyed a rare Jermaine Pennant cross home. Steve Bruce was left with nothing but a simmering sense of injustice against Wiley. "He totally and utterly got it wrong and he cost us the game," said the Wigan manager.

Guardian Service