Charlton tie Liverpool, Zheng shines
(Agencies)Updated: 2007-05-14 08:53 LIVERPOOL, England - Liverpool warmed up for the Champions League final by being held to a surprise 2-2 draw at home to relegated Charlton Athletic at Anfield here Sunday.
Harry Kewell's stoppage time penalty after Madjid Bougherra had handled saved Rafael Benitez's blushes 10 days before Liverpool take on Italian giants AC Milan in Athens.
Darren Bent's 16th goal of the season looked to have sealed victory for the London visitors on the final day of the Premiership campaign after substitute Xabi Alonso had cancelled out Matt Holland's early opener.
Robbie Fowler was looking for a winning end to his Anfield career yet the player nicknamed 'God' by Liverpool fans will remember his 369th appearance for the club for all the wrong reasons.
The former England striker had previously scored eight goals in just 10 appearances against the London club but rarely looked like adding to that tally although Liverpool still finished third in the table.
Charlton, whose seven-year tenure in the top-flight ended six days earlier, stunned Anfield by taking the lead with the game just one minute and forty seconds old.
 Chinese skipper Zheng Zhi (R), on loan to Charlton, challenges for the ball against Liverpool's Steve Gerrard during their English Premier League in Liverpool Sunday.[sina] |
It was just the start Liverpool and their young debutant keeper Daniele Padelli did not want.
Yet Padelli, on loan from Sampdoria, was let down by the poor marking in front of him as Holland scored his first league goal for 16 months.
Liverpool were the victims of their own downfall. Alvaro Arbeloa was guilty of a poor miss with only the keeper to beat when a pass to the unmarked Fowler would have been the better option.
Charlton will wonder how they did not leave Anfield with all three points. Darren Ambrose was well positioned to make it 2-0 after being teed-up by his captain Darren Bent but horribly mis-hit.
Then Cameroon midfielder Alex Song-Billong was denied a goal by Steve Finnan's 30th minute clearance off the line.
Liverpool looked anything but Champions League finalists for long periods as they gifted Charlton possession time and again before Dirk Kuyt was denied by a super full stretch save by Charlton's young debutant keeper Darren Randolph after a powerful Steven Gerrard run.
Charlton started the second half as brightly as they did the first. The home defence was sliced open by a powerful move involving Darren Bent and Zhi before the latter fired wide with only Padelli to beat before the Chinese headed another chance wide in the 59th minute.
Those misses looked to have proved costly when substitute Alonso levelled from eight-yards after Kuyt had headed a cross by Kewell, another substitute, into the Spanish midfielder's path in the 63rd minute.
Kewell's introduction looked to breath new fire into the home side and two minutes later the Australia winger was unlucky with a tremendous effort which clattered the bar.
But just as Liverpool looked to be gaining the upper hand, up popped Bent who finished well after Ben Thatcher's stinging shot rebounded off Padelli before Kewell had the final say in the closing moments.
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