Liverpool: James, McAteer, Kvarme, Matteo, Harkness, Bjornebye
(Berger 79), McManaman, Barnes, Redknapp, Collymore, Fowler.
Subs Not Used: Warner, Ruddock, Thomas, Kennedy.
Booked: Collymore, Matteo.
Goals: Fowler 52.
Coventry: Ogrizovic, Shaw, Burrows, Williams, Richardson, Jess
(Hall 57), Whelan, Dublin, McAllister, Ndlovu, Huckerby (Strachan
83).
Subs Not Used: Filan, Ducros, Breen.
Booked: Williams, Ndlovu, Whelan.
Goals: Dublin 90, Whelan 65.
Att: 40,079
Ref: P Danson (Leicester).
By Ken Gaunt, PA Sport
Dion Dublin scored a dramatic injury time winner today at Anfield to deal a hammer blow to Liverpool's title hopes. Robbie Fowler opened the scoring for Liverpool after 52 minutes only for Noel Whelan to equalise 13 minutes later. Stan Collymore scorned a glorious chance of getting the winner for Liverpool before Dublin's late, late strike. Manchester United remain three points clear of Arsenal and Liverpool at the top of the table.
Not only did Dublin's goal rock Liverpool it also rocketed Coventry out of the bottom three. And 'keeper David James must shoulder most of the blame for this shock defeat. He flapped at a corner Gary McAllister's corner, leaving Dublin in the clear. He tried to get back but the Coventry defender was able to find a clear path to goal.
Liverpool remain third behind Arsenal and United and that may be all they can hope for. Coventry, fighting for their premiership lives, could have been two goals down in the opening five minutes. Steve Ogrizovic was forced to work overtime to stem the flow of attacks and he did a superb job in the first half. Stig Bjornebye floated in a corner after three minutes and John Barnes got in a free header, only to see the ball drift wide of the post. Two minutes later Fowler sent Steve McManaman clear on goal but he somehow sent his shot off-target.
Coventry broke forward after 24 minutes and a rare mistake by Bjorn Kvarme gave them a glimmer of hope. The Norwegian international tried to steer a cross from Richard Shaw back to 'keeper James but Peter Ndlovu managed to intercept it. However, he was unable to get any power on it much to the Kop's relief. It was a brief moment of respite for Coventry, who must have been grateful to go in a half time still on level terms. Fowler sent a shot into Ogrizovic's arms then Jamie Redknapp thundered a spectacular 20-yard volley inches wide before setting up Collymore. But the veteran keeper was again equal to the task, beating away his shot then holding on to another fierce effort from Redknapp. Collymore and Fowler again went close as an embarrassingly one-side first half came to an end.
Liverpool continued in the same vein at the start of the second period with McManaman getting into a good position from Bjornebye's cross only to direct his header into Ogrizovic's body. Coventry caved in after 52 minutes with a wonder goal from Fowler, his 29th of the season for Liverpool and his seventh in six matches. Barnes picked him out unmarked in the penalty area with a delightful defence-splitting pass. The ball sat up nicely for the England striker but the finish was still awesome whistling past Ogrizovic into the corner of the net. That looked like the end for Coventry but incredibly they drew level in the 65th minute.
McAllister swung in a corner from the right, which was headed on by Dublin, linking up with the attack. He nodded the ball on and Whelan powered a header beyond the despairing James to give themselves a lifeline. Collymore had a glorious chance of regaining the lead for Liverpool when McManaman put him clear in front of the posts. But with only Ogrizovic to beat the £8.5million striker sent his shot high and wide into the crowd. Liverpool manager Roy Evans brought on Patrik Berger for Bjornebye with 11 minutes to go but it was Coventry who got the killer goal, not the title contenders. Evans will now reflect on 18 home points going astray at Anfield and that is hardly Championship form.
Liverpool manager Roy Evans launched a stinging attack on his players, after they blew their chance to overtake Manchester United and Arsenal and go top of the Premiership today at Anfield. Dion Dublin scored a dramatic goal in injury time when goalkeeper David James blundered to give Coventry a 2-1 victory which rocketed them out of the bottom three with a first win in nine games. Liverpool squandered a host of chances, before Robbie Fowler opened the scoring on 52 minutes, with his 29th goal of the season. It seemed like the beginning of the end for Coventry, but they rallied and secured the points with goals from Noel Whelan and then that late strike from Dublin, both following corners from Gary McAllister.
Evans was furious at remaining third in the table on the same points as Arsenal and still three behind United. He said: "The players should know by now the game lasts 90 minutes. But we should have had the game and the points in the bag before then. "How do you explain a result like that? It was embarrassing. We had a number of good chances and bad misses. "We were patient, got a goal, only to be caught out by two innocuous corners. Both their goals were similar. "Now it is back to square one and all to play for. We have played like this before at home, and I can't explain why."
Coventry became the latest club to find out that Liverpool have a habit of taking their foot off the pedal when they are in the driving seat. Player-manager Gordon Strachan said: "The result was the one we wanted. It wasn't down to Plan A, more like Plan G. "But we do work at set pieces with players like McAllister and Dublin, and that's how our goals came about. "Dublin prefers to play as a striker, but he's scored more goals since we've got him playing at the back. "We know we can't match teams like Liverpool at all-round skills. All we can do is watch and learn and hope your players are hungry enough for success. "There is always one daft weekend in the season, and I think this is it, with my team winning and Manchester United losing to Derby. "I would say beating Newcastle in my first match as manager was more significant, but at least tonight I can go to the local and face the punters."
Evans, meanwhile, believes Coventry still have a bit of work to do, if they are to avoid relegation. "I know this might sound like sour grapes, but they didn't look a threat to our goal," he said. "I think they have to show a bit more in their remaining games."
Manchester United are now rated as 4-9 favourites to win the Premiership with Ladbrokes following Liverpool's shock 2-1 defeat at home to Coventry today. Roy Evans' side are 2-1, with Arsenal's odds having fallen from 33-1 to 8-1, while Newcastle are 66-1.