Liverpool held at home by Wigan

Liverpool's resurgence under Kenny Dalglish was dealt a setback as struggling Wigan battled to a deserved draw at Anfield.

The home side led at the break thanks to Raul Meireles' volley - his fourth goal in his last five matches.

But Wigan fought back and equalised when Steve Gohouri prodded in Antolin Alcaraz's flick on at the far post.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was twice denied a goal by the woodwork on his first start for the club.

The Uruguyan's selection signalled a more adventurous Liverpool formation to the one that employed a heavily loaded midfield and a three-man defence in a successful contain and capitalise operation at Chelsea last Sunday.

It was a system designed to dominate their struggling opponents but, despite coming into the game full of confidence off the back of four successive wins, they were unable to do so.

This may be partly due to the absence of midfield driving-force Steven Gerrard, who missed the game because of the thigh injury that caused him to sit out England's international win in Denmark on Wednesday.

The chief reason though was the performance of Wigan, who adopted a similar philosophy to that used to such good effect by their hosts in London six days ago.

Wigan's performance was a battling one - which should give them heart in their quest to avoid the drop - but it also showcased enough fluency and ability to make one wonder why even with this point they remain in the relegation zone, albeit only on goal difference.

The Latics began the game well, looking composed with the lion's share of possession, without creating anything of meaning to hurt the home side.

In contrast, when Liverpool came forward they looked more threatening, and it was they who had the first goalbound effort courtesy of Dirk Kuyt's 25-yard drive, which Ali Al-Habsi saved.

The home side were growing as a force soon after they went ahead when Fabio Aurelio's cross from the left was deflected to Meireles by the attempted headed clearance of Gohouri, and the Portuguese midfielder lashed a volley past Al-Habsi.

Suarez almost doubled the lead soon after, but after jinking in from the left, his curling effort struck the far post and went wide.

Wigan refused to wilt though and continued as a threat in the game, although Charles N'Zogbia's 25-yard free-kick - easily gathered by Reina - was their only effort on target before the break.

The visitors would fashion the first chance of the second half, and it was one from which they should have scored, but Hugo Rodallega put his first-time side-foot effort wide after being found at the near post by Victor Moses.

The miss did not dishearten them though and with 65 minutes gone they got a deserved but controversial equaliser.

N'Zogbia's inswinging cross from the right was flicked on by the head of Antolin Alcaraz and then prodded in at the back-post by Gohouri.

The defender appeared to be in an offside position when Alcaraz made contact but the linesman's flag stayed down.

It was the first goal Liverpool had conceded in over seven hours of football, since Jermaine Beckford's strike for Everton in the 2-2 draw at Anfield on 16 January.

Sensing their first lost points since that Merseyside derby, Liverpool pressed for a winner and they were inches away when Suarez struck the bar with a 20-yard free-kick.

Aurelio fired over from 20 yards and Martin Skrtel headed over from a corner late on but Wigan were able to hold out.

Source: BBC Sport

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