Liverpool: James, Kvarme, McAteer, McManaman, Leonhardsen,
Redknapp, Riedle, Berger, Owen, Bjornebye (Murphy 65), Matteo.
Subs Not Used: Harkness, Ruddock, Carragher, Nielson.
Booked: Matteo.
Barnsley: Leese, Eaden, Moses, De Zeeuw, Redfearn, Liddell
(Appleby 68), Bullock, Tinkler, Barnard, Ward (Hendrie 86),
Markstedt.
Subs Not Used: Watson, Bosancic, Hristov.
Goals: Ward 35.
Att: 41,011
[PA-report] [Telegraph-report] [Times-report] [Guardian-report] [Observer-report]
Barnsley produced the result of the season with their first-ever win at Anfield as their fairytale ride amongst soccer's elite gave them a day of dreams that will never die. Bottom of the table, shipping goals at an alarming rate, they were being lined-up as cannon fodder for a team who were supposedly winding themselves up for a genuine title challenge. But all that went out of the window as Danny Wilson's brave battlers took fortress Anfield by storm.
Barnsley had been the whipping boys of the division, supposedly out of their depth and deserving only sympathy as they slipped their way back into the first division. All that may be true, the Yorkshiremen may well go that way. But you will never take away from them the day they went to Anfield and won. Their delighted fans stood and sung their hearts out at the end. And after the slaughters they have had to endure with such good humour, who could deny them their day of glory?
The winner came from a striker who has been handicapped by serious illness since he joined from Derby. Ashley Ward was making his comeback after recovering from viral meningitis as Barnsley made their first apperance at Anfield since 1959. And it was Ward who punished amazingly sloppy defending with a first-half close-range effort that will no doubt go down in Barnsley folklore.
Liverpool had won all their previous five home games with a hatful of goals, but they walked straight into a side playing for their pride after a deluge of bad results that saw them already written off. Their wonderous journey around the most famous grounds in the country will continue with increased verve and joy now. The day they won at Anfield...the tough folk of south Yorkshire will never forget it.
Liverpool were missing three regulars. Skipper Paul Ince and striker Robbie Fowler both suspended, with Rob Jones injured. It meant Jason McAteer got a run in defence, with Patrik Berger up front with Michael Owen and Karlheinz Riedle in a very attacking line-up.
Barnsley welcomed £250,000 newboy from Swedish club Vasteraas, Peter Markstedt for his debut while Neil Redfearn and Ashley Ward were both back after injury. Barnsley received a tremendous reception from their fans packed into the newly-opened lower tier of the rebuilt Anfield Road end, a complete sell-out for the Yorkshire fans and a testimony to their immense loyalty in trying circumstances. Barnsley started with a flurry of attacks, and from one a Nicky Eaden cross was met by Adie Moses, whose header was pulled down by David James.
But Liverpool were soon pouring forward. Riedle caught 'keeper Lars Leese in posession and it created panic in the defence before the danger was cleared. Then Owen set up Berger for a 25-yarder that Leese palmed away at full stretch. Owen then crossed from the right, and stand-in skipper Steve McManaman headed over.
But Barnsley clearly had not read the script. They fought with great desire in midfield, Redfearn leading by example, and battled manfully at the back where Markstedt and Arjan de Zeeuw were twin towers of strength. Barnsley worked their socks off and deserved the bits of luck that went their way as they were exposed by Liverpool's greater pace.
But the hosts seemed to expect the ball and the chances, and once that sort of lethagy sets in, no amount of bellowing by Roy Evans from the line is going to change things. Leese, after that early error, produced a string of great saves, three times from Riedle and twice from Oyvind Leonhardsen.
And then when Barnsley's defiance -- initially just an amusing irratation -- began to frustrate fans and home side alike, the Yorkshiremen had the cheek to take the lead. Andy Liddell got away down the right and skipped past the onrushing David James. If the little midfielder had gone down then, he may well have got a penalty, but he scrambled on and managed to lay the ball back into the area. The ball hit Berger and bounced for Ward to turn into the net from three yards after 35 minutes.
The second half saw increasing, frantic pressure from Liverpool. Ward had one chance when he sprinted 30 yards to flash a shot wide, but it was all at the other end as Barnsley battled to protect their lead. They were subjected to the whole catalogue of intimidation from desperate home fans and nervy players. Liverpool were on the wrong end of a list of close call offside decisions, and referee Jeff Winter had to warn substitute Steve Harkness after he had twice subjected the offending linesman to a barrage of abuse...as he was warming up on the line! The barrage of attacking continued as Barnsley reverted to 10-man defence. Leese was outstanding, hurling himself around his box, but Liverpool found themselves beating against a brick wall.
Evans took off Stig Bjornebye and put on a tackling midfielder in Danny Murphy, and the substitute crashed in a 30 yarder that Leese somehow managed to stop. The tension was frightening, the atmosphere electric, and Leese produced another superb block when Murphy belted in a 25-yarder.
Barnsley boss Danny Wilson heaped praise on his heroic battlers after their stunning victory at Liverpool. The Oakwell chief saw his team turn the form book upside down with a courageous display that saw them win 1-0 thanks to a Ashley Ward's 35th minute goal.
Wilson said: "We have had so many hammerings this was a great result. "I can't praise them enough. They worked so hard. Frankly I believe something like this has been coming. "Liverpool had a lot of chances and Roy Evans will be annoyed that they were wasted. "We had some luck, but we deserved it. We made our own luck and it was good to see things go our way for a change."
And Wilson expressed his delight with new Swedish defender Peter Markstedt, who had a stunning debut at the heart of the defence. Wilson said: "It was a great debut, it's a difficult task for him to come in at a place like Anfield, but he coped superbly. "I wasn't surprised by his display, and knew he was good. But now he has to go out and do it week after week. It's the same for all of our team, one good result isn't enough. "We have to go on from here and put a few results together. But I don't want to take anything away from us, I'm just pleased for the players and the fans, who were magnificent. "We were under so much pressure, and the linesman too was under great pressure. "He was strong and didn't buckle under pressure from the fans when we were getting so many marginal offside decisions. But the linesman didn't give in and give the fans what they wanted."
Wilson added: "Our goal had a charmed life at times, but we got the rub of the green for a change. After the way we played in our last game losing badly at Southampton, the lads needed to produce a performance like that."
Roy Evans had to listen to his team being booed off, but he accepted the Liverpool fans had a point. Evans said: "The fans were frustrated because we didn't win and I can understand that. They'd come to see us beat a team at the bottom of the division, and we didn't. You can hardly expect them to cheer us off. "I'm frustrated, the team are frustrated. Even though we didn't play that well, we created enough chances to have won it."
Karlheinz Riedle was the worst culprit, spurning a string of clear openings. Evans said: "Karlheinz is honest, one of the most honest players I have met, and he has held his hands up and said he should have scored a hat-trick. "Frankly we didn't need to do much defending, and their goal was a mistake by Patrik Berger. Defenders get the blame when goals go in, I think this is the right time to say, the forwards are to blame because they didn't put their chances away. But the warning signs have been there for a while. We discussed during the week when it was going to happen that Barnsley would pack their defence for an away game and just sit there, the sort of results they have been getting and the goals they have been conceding. "Well they did it against us. But it was still a game we should have won. We threw away too many openings and their 'keeper had a fine game after a shaky start."
Ward just what doctor ordered for Barnsley
Liverpool (0) 0 Barnsley (1) 1
BARNSLEY arrived in the Premiership determined to savour every moment, even if they were immediately returned to the Nationwide League, but it is unlikely that any emotion this season will surpass the exhilaration they experienced at Anfield yesterday.
For all Roy Evans's pleas that no one should take victory over Barnsley for granted, he and his cohorts cannot have envisaged the events that unfolded.
Barnsley, whipping boys for the high and mighty, resisted Liverpool's predictable early bombardment and, to the astonishment of those looking down from the Kop, took the lead at that fabled end of the ground in the 35th minute.
Ashley Ward, generally expected to be absent after suffering from meningitis, accepted the gift bizarrely presented to him by Patrik Berger and Liverpool were scrambling to salvage self- esteem.
Barnsley had to ride their luck at times in an eventful first half, yet played and competed without fear, showing scant respect for reputation, despite some harrying experiences against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Danny Wilson's side, having conceded 24 goals in their previous five Premiership games, unsurprisingly gave an instant debut to the Swedish defender Peter Markstedt, signed for £250,000.
Liverpool opted for Berger as replacement for the suspended Paul Ince in midfield, doubtless an indication of their confidence in how the match was likely to develop. The loss of Robbie Fowler, also suspended, was cushioned by the further progress made by Michael Owen this past week, his hat-trick carrying the club into the quarter-finals of the Coca-Cola Cup.
Owen might have made more of the first opportunity created by Liverpool, in the sixth minute. Instead, Jason McAteer found Oyvind Leonhardsen, who lifted his shot high and wide.
Remarkably, Barnsley survived the early storm and had they been able to deliver a more accurate final ball Liverpool would have been subjected to even greater discomfort. Liverpool's response was incisive and should have brought them the lead midway into the half. Berger's dummy opened the way for Karlheinz Riedle but the German volleyed just too high.
Undaunted, Barnsley continued to take the game to their illustrious hosts and one break down the right brought the breakthrough. Andy Liddell defied the attempted offside trap when David James lunged, then picked himself up and crossed low into the heart of the area. Berger should have cleared but inexplicably pushed the ball to Ward who gratefully prodded it into the net.
"It's just like watching Brazil," the Barnsley supporters sang and Ward, flushed with success, took on the Liverpool defence singlehandedly early in the second half before shooting narrowly off target.
Owen rekindled Liverpool's fire, putting through Leonhardsen, whose shot was splendidly saved by Leese. McAteer then drove inches wide and Riedle inches over to give Barnsley a famous victory.
Barnsley Ward off demons for
unlikely victory
Ian Hawkey
Liverpool 0 Barnsley 1
JUST like watching Brazil, they sang of Barnsley. Should Brazil choose to play New Zealand at rugby union, so might it be. Their victory against the aristocrats of Anfield was all scrap, but no less proud. Its reward was to move them off the bottom of the table.
Liverpool were booed off the field by some of their supporters, the suggestion that they may have turned a corner put on screeching hold. A habit of conceding points at home to lesser opposition stuck to them last season and they had opportunity aplenty to reverse it yesterday. The last two acts of the match were full of fine crosses without final connection, domination turned somehow to defeat.
Okay, Liverpool had been without the suspended Robbie Fowler and Paul Ince, pushing Jamie Redknapp deeper in their 4-4-2. Sure, their movement rarely declared its choreographed best, but openings came, particularly via the porous region they tapped down Barnsley's left. Karlheinz Riedle stabbed a centre just over at the far post; Steve McManaman swung a foot airily at another with little between him and goal; a cute dummy by Patrik Berger allowed Stig Inge Bjornebye's through ball to reach Riedle with only Lars Leese ahead of him. The German lobbed, but cleared the crossbar.
That was just the first 20 minutes. Leese, in the Barnsley goal, had made an awkward start, but his afternoon was to grow better as it became busier. He paddled away Berger's forceful drive from 30 yards and saved low from close-range to keep out Riedle in the second-half.
Barnsley had also given a debut to their new defender from Sweden, Peter Markstedt, whose contribution to their fortitude equalled that of Leese. Nobody travels to Liverpool entirely at peace with themselves, however, when they have conceded 40 goals in 14 League games. "We had a share of luck," said Danny Wilson, the winning manager.
For all that, Liverpool had punctuated their superior possession with unforced errors. Two such defensive lapses provided Barnsley's lead 10 minutes before the break. Chasing a ball delivered from deep, Andy Liddell streaked down the right-hand side of the Liverpool penalty area and David James advanced to make half a save at his feet. Liddell recovered and angled back his cross into a goalmouth coloured dense red. Berger's control, alas, let him down, and Ashley Ward poked over the line - a most generous scrap from the rich man's table.
A goal to the good, a faint swagger could be detected about Barnsley immediately after half-time. Ward, doubtful because of a virus until the morning, embarked on a virtuoso run, flourishing with a drive, off target, from 25 yards. It was a cameo, rather than the true character of the contest. Liverpool dictated, though to two out of three of their edicts, Barnsley appealed to the offside law. Time and again, they stepped forward in unison to trap Michael Owen. Steve Harkness, a substitute warming up, even took issue with the referee's assistant on the matter.
Riedle twice beat the offside strategy by legitimate means, but squandered. Leonhardsen had two close-range efforts stifled in the second period. "Where do you start?" asked Roy Evans. "It was a game we should have won."
Liverpool: James, McAteer, Kvarme, Matteo, Bjornebye (Murphy 66min), McManaman, Redknappp, Leonhardsen, Berger, Owen, Riedle.
Barnsley: Leese, Eaden, Moses, De Zeeuw, Markstedt, Tinkler, Barnard, Bullock, Redfearn, Liddell (Appleby 69min), Ward (Hendrie 86min).
Scorer: Barnsley: Ward 35.
Referee: J Winter (Middlesbrough).
Attendance: 41,011.
Earth moves for Barnsley
By David Hopps
The last time Barnsley played Liverpool was back in 1959. They were beaten twice over Easter, on their way to relegation from the Second Division, and a post-war boom, which was spreading the excitement of cars and television to the masses, encouraged suggestions that Barnsley's decline was irreversible. Liverpool, soon to be promoted under Bill Shankly, never looked back.
Nearly 40 years on the same assumptions have rung out with even more validity. Football has become a business for the rich and powerful. Barnsley's little adventure is all very well but every indication has been that it will be swamped by the multi-million pound demands of the Premiership.
All it took to challenge such assumptions was for Barnsley to renew acquaintances with Liverpool. Ashley Ward's winning goal, nine minutes before half-time, took them off the bottom. This was a side who conceded a combined 18 goals against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. There will be no more astounding result all season.
Barnsley have celebrated few days like this. Forty years ago the earth really did move; at Darton the railway station was sinking, subsidence caused houses to be evacuated at Tankersley. This time it just felt like it had.
All it took was David James's hesitation as Nicky Eaden pumped the ball into the area, and Andy Liddell's cross from the byline to run off Patrik Berger's shins, for Ward to shake the Premiership from its complacency. Liverpool, with almost an hour to restate their superiority, succumbed to confusion.
That Easter, as now, Barnsley had been desperate for a reliable central defender. Duncan Sharp felt far from fit but the trainer John Steele walked up to his house, plonked himself on the sofa and, after considerable persuasion, got Sharp's jacket for him. Liverpool won 2-0 and the Barnsley crowd jeered that they would have been better leaving early to catch the late-afternoon bargains at the fruit 'n' veg market.
This time, perhaps appropriately, Barnsley placed their faith in a Swede from the outset. Peter Markstedt, a £250,000 buy from Västerås, could hardly have had a more unruffled debut. "He is nice and composed and reads the game well," said the manager Danny Wilson. "He is a thinking footballer." And Wilson is a vibrant operator, whose shiny-eyed optimism might yet bring Barnsley salvation.
At times, one wonders what some Liverpool players are thinking about: the next car, the next mobile phone, the next nightclub. Without the suspended Paul Ince, they lacked someone to coerce them into order; without Robbie Fowler, also suspended, there was less of a likelihood that they would filch something from an endless succession of frantic attacks.
The Anfield crowd is increasingly splenetic, responding to their second home defeat of the season with boos and jeers. Too often Liverpool come dangerously close to resembling talcum-powder players, possessed of the talent to enthrall millions but displaying only the capacity to amuse themselves.
Is this Spice Boys jibe a cliché, little more than worthless envy of their fame, money and good looks? Or is it destined to be the final judgment on Evans's Liverpool? Successive matches against Arsenal and Manchester United will go a long way to revealing the final nature of their season. In 1959 Barnsley's senior trainer Bob Shotton scowled that the players were getting too lazy and should be made to walk to the ground. Evans is far too nice to allow such bitterness to take hold and, anyway, these days it would take them most of the week to get there. "I don't see any significance in the booing - you don't expect them to cheer when we've lost," he said. Had Karlheinz Riedle not missed four gaping opportunities Liverpool's ceaseless pressure might have disguised their lack of fluency.
Instead the heroes belonged to Barnsley. Lars Leese had a dodgy first 20 minutes in goal but later saved well from Berger, Riedle and Oyvind Leonhardson. "We did no defending," said Evans, and he was right. Now the defending begins for real - the defending of reputations.
by Richard Thorner of "The Observer"
After conceding 18 goals in three games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, Barnsley had all the makings of convenient fall-guys for a Liverpool side sorely in need of a strutting performance to restore their vision of themselves as serious Premiership contenders.
Instead, all that was further sacrificed was Liverpool's reputation as Barnsley, the bottom club, pulled off the unlikeliest steal of the season, accepting a gifted goal for Ashley Ward nine minutes before half time and then defending it with desperate stout-heartedness.
This was one of Barnsley's great days. There have been suggestions that they are on course to beat Swindon's record of 100 Premiership goals conceded, and long before the whistle they were merely intent upon defending with all the energy they could muster, recognising the oppportunity to bolster pride and hope.
There was some splendid goalkeeping by Leese, and there was bound to be, but it is a £250,000 acquisition from the Swedish club Västerås who will attract most attention today. Peter Markstedt was billed by his manager, Danny Wilson, as "a thinking central defender" and after his composed performance he will doubtless be thinking that the Premiership is not as hard as it is cracked up to be. Liverpool enjoyed sporadic boos from a crowd offended by their carelessness and which clearly suspects them as Fancy Dans. The affliction has even reached a player of such professionalism as Riedle, who has scored only four times all season and who blew enough opportunities yesterday to double his tally.
From afar, Barnsley's choice of goalkeeper might seem to rest with which one reports with the least glazed expression. Watson gave way to Leese yesterday and his early saves were racked with uncertainty; an extravagant dive to beat away Berger's shot, an uncomfortable touch over the bar after Riedle stretched for Berger's free kick from the left and a catch of Bjornebye's inswinging corner which propelled precariously close to his own line.
Berger's leaping dummy from Leonhardsen's pass resembled a breakfast TV keep-fit routine so much so that he should properly have been dressed in Lycra. Riedle was equally casual as he blazed the opportunity over.
Barnsley were heartened by it all. They fashioned the occasional attack, they won a corner and then, damn it all, they had the temerity to score. Liverpool provided every assistance. Had James not dallied he might have effected a routine clearance as Eaden punted the ball into the right of the Liverpool area; even allowing for his hesitation James's trailing hand to interrupt Liddell's run should have been enough. Liddell's weak cross offered Berger the chance to clear, but the ball ran off his shins into the path of Ward, who tucked it into the net with James still absent.
Even if Ward's 20-yard shot at the start of the second half had sailed the other side of the post, few would have accepted Barnsley's odds of 9-1 for victory, certainly not Liverpool, who longed for Ince, who might have berated them into some sort of order, but whose scoring opportunities mounted. Leese saved well from Leon Hardsen and Riedle's disheartening afternoon continued as he flashed another shot too high. And then shot an inviting chance straight at the goalkeeper.
The introduction of Murphy for the full-back Bjornebye, with nearly half an hour left, smacks of Roy Evans's desperation. He had every right to be.