Blackburn: Filan, Kenna, Hendry, Ripley, Gallacher, Sutton,
Wilcox (Dahlin 67), Flitcroft, McKinlay (Bohinen 75), Valery,
Henchoz (Pearce 36).
Subs Not Used: Croft, Williams.
Booked: Sutton.
Goals: Dahlin 84.
Liverpool: James, Jones, Kvarme, Wright, McManaman, Harkness,
Riedle (Berger 80), Thomas, Ince, Owen, Bjornebye.
Subs Not Used: McAteer, Babb, Murphy, Warner.
Booked: Ince.
Goals: Owen 52.
Att: 30,187
Ref: S J Lodge (Barnsley).
[PA-Report] [Telegraph-report] [Times-report]
Martin Dahlin came off the substitutes' bench to maintain Blackburn's unbeaten start to the season after Liverpool wonder kid Michael Owen's fledgling genius had threatened to put the Merseysiders on the victory trail at Ewood Park.
Owen, the 17-year-old striker given an extended run in the team because of Robbie Fowler's knee injury, scored a brilliantly executed opportunist strike seven minutes into the second-half to give Roy Evans' men a scent of their first win of the season.
But Swedish international Dahlin, the £2million summer arrival from Hamburg, came on as a 68th-minute substitute and grabbed an equaliser with an equally expert piece of precision seven minutes from time. It was a fair outcome to a pulsating Lancashire derby, although Rovers will probably claim they deserved the full spoils for a first-half performance that had the visitors hanging on.
Blackburn looked every inch a team leading the Premiership as they tore into the heart of the Liverpool defence immediately, forcing four corners in the first three minutes and 10 by half-time.
Patrick Valery smashed an early shot over and then Garry Flitcroft muscled his way beyond Mark Wright and hooked over a cross that Bjorn Kvarme desperately hacked against the legs of team-mate Rob Jones and was relieved to see the ball drop over the crossbar.
Liverpool, with Paul Ince working desperately to stem the tide, should have gone ahead though when Colin Hendry misjudged the bounce ofthe ball and Karlheinz Riedle raced clear only to see John Filan get the slightest of fingertips to his low shot to thwart him.
For a spell the Reds seemed to be getting their passing game into gear, but they were still being troubled by the more direct approach of Blackburn and the strength and speed of Chris Sutton and Jason Wilcox was a constant concern.
Sutton turned inside neatly to force James to his knees to keep out a curling 20-yarder.
And when the Liverpool keeper punched weakly at a Stuart Ripley corner he was fortunate to see Steve McManaman head the ball off the line when Jason Wilcox's 18-yard drive took a wicked deflection off Kvarme. Liverpool finally broke the stranglehold when Jones crossed from the right and McManaman crept around the back only to plant his far-post header wide.
Then Owen broke the home side's offside trap but was beaten to Thomas' pass by Filan who raced from his goal to hack into the crowd. And they enjoyed their best spell of the opening period when Henchoz went off for treatment to a facial wound and boss Hodgson waited 10 minutes before deciding to replace the Swiss defender with Ian Pearce. Rovers almost paid the price for playing the waiting game when Liverpool produced a superb move that was worthy of a goal.
Thomas, Riedle and Owen linked down the middle and when the ball was swept out to Jones on the right he delivered an instant cross that was met by an emphatic header by Riedle, the German watching with disbelief as the ball beat Filan only to clatter the crossbar.
Thomas then had a shot hacked off the line by Gallacher and Owen was just too high with a bicycle kick borne from pure instinct.
But if Liverpool thought that the Blackburn storm had blown itself out completely they were wrong and Pearce strode forward to crash in a rising angled drive that was turned behind by James.
But the visitors went ahead on 52 minutes thanks to another piece of stunning finishing from Owen.
He charged down Jason Wilcox's pass inside his own half and then showed a startling turn of speed to burn through the centre, holding off Valery before drilling a low shot under Filan for his second goal in the first three games and third in four starts.
McManaman should have made it 2-0 only to fire straight at the grounded Filan when he beat the offside trap - and Liverpool were made to pay when Dahlin's introduction sparked a Blackburn rally that brought a deserved share of the spoils.
The Swedish striker, still waiting for his full debut, was thrown into the fray with 23 minutes remaining for Wilcox. And with three strikers to deal with, Liverpool's defence soon began to bend before buckling completely seven minutes from time. Fellow substitute Lars Bohinen brought a quite stunning save from James, and the Liverpool keeper excelled again when he blocked out Dahlin.
But the breakthrough came when Dahlin swapped passes with Bohinen -- the ball taking a slight defelection off Wright -- and the Swede buried his shot beyond James.
Roy Evans shrugged off the disappointment of seeing Martin Dahlin's late equaliser for Blackburn deny Liverpool their first win of the new season to pay tribute to his Anfield side. After taking just one point from their opening two Premiership outings, Liverpool were having their title credentials questioned from all quarters outside Merseyside. When 17-year-old Michael Owen claimed his third goal in four starts with another glimpse of his fledgling genius, the Reds looked set to open their victory account only for substitute Dahlin to maintain Rovers' unbeaten start to the season with an equaliser seven minutes from time that keeps Roy Hodgson's men top of the table.
Anfield boss Evans said: "I feel that it is two points lost because we created more clear-cut chances than Blackburn. "Blackburn did put us under a lot of pressure in the first half and then again after we scored, but I feel that we should have scored more goals from the chances we created. "But if we continue to show the same effort and passion we will be okay, because we know we have the ability. "We had to sow that resolve because in the last 10 days we have been slaughtered by everyone for the defeat against Leicester in our last game. "In the 10 days since then we have been pulverised, but the players have responded in the right way."
Owen, given an extended run in the team because of Robbie Fowler's knee injury, bagged his second goal of the season when he charged down a Jason Wilcox pass and raced from halfway before firing home. Steve McManaman should have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards, but could only shoot straight at Rovers keeper John Filan. And when Dahlin, still to make his full debut since his summer arrival from Hamburg, rose from the bench he provided the home side with the late impetus they needed to grab an equaliser from a pass by fellow substitute Lars Bohinen.
Evans added: "Steve should have scored, but he had so many options that he thought about them all and ended up missing it. "But he has been a very important player for us. The Barcelona deal may have collapsed but he still remains vital to the way we play."
Rovers lost Stephane Henchoz to a first-half head injury after an accidental clash with Karlheinz Riedle and the Swiss defender required four stitches.
But Rovers were good value for their point and manager Hodgson said: "What pleased me more than anything was the way we came back. "We found ourselves 1-0 down to a Liverpool side who are at their best when in the lead and who were defending very well, but we showed character and determination to come back and score an equaliser. "I had to gamble when we went a goal behind and we played with four up and a forward-thinking midfield player. It was a big risk, but it paid off." He added: "It was an excellent game of football -- you won't see much better football than that which was played in the first half, although that is a very personal opinion. "And it's nice to be still top of the table. But I'd rather be top of the table after 37 games and be four points clear with one game still toplay!"
Hodgson also insisted that Dahlin -- who played for him as a youngster at Malmo in Sweden -- and Henchoz cost less than has been reported. Even the Rovers programme listed Dahlin as £2million buy and Henchoz at £3million.
But Hodgson insisted: "Dahlin cost me £1.6million and Henchoz cost £2.8million -- I don't care what anyone else says."
Dahlin rescues
Rovers
By Colin Malam at Ewood Park
Blackburn (0) 1 Liverpool (0) 1
MARTIN DAHLIN rescued Blackburn's unbeaten start to the season yesterday, just when it seemed Michael Owen, 17, had given Liverpool their first win. Only seven minutes of a lively, rain-soaked contest remained when the Swedish international striker, signed by new Rovers manager Roy Hodgson for £2 million from Roma, cancelled out Owen's marvellous opportunist goal for the Merseysiders.
Dahlin had not long come on to replace Jason Wilcox when he finished off a dazzling interchange of short passes by slipping the ball past Liverpool goalkeeper David James. It was one of the few times Blackburn looked like exploiting their territorial superiority. Indeed, Liverpool created the better chances and would have won had Steve McManaman not been guilty of a terrible miss.
Not surprisingly, Blackburn fielded the same team who won their first two matches and filled Ewood Park with optimism again after the lean, post-Dalglish era. Despite losing their previous match, at home to Leicester, and taking only one point from their first two games, Liverpool made only one change, Norwegian defender Bjorn Tore Kvarme being given his first outing of the season at the expense of Phil Babb.
It was soon easy to see why the Merseysiders had struggled so much in their earlier fixtures. A series of Blackburn corners gave them endless problems and played such havoc with their nerves that they very nearly presented the home side with a goal after only nine minutes. When Garry Flitcroft dispossed Mark Wright on the by-line and pulled the ball back, Kvarme played it blindly against Rob Jones, who knocked it over his own crossbar as he ran back towards goal.
Yet, for all their uncertainty, Liverpool ought to have taken the lead after 11 minutes. A long forward pass from Kvarme gave German striker Karlheinz Riedle the chance to take on Swiss central defender Stephane Henchoz in a physical battle for the ball. Having won it against the bigger man, Riedle drew groans of disappointment from the large contingent of Liverpool fans by scuffing his shot wide of goal.
It was but a brief respite from the Blackburn bombardment. Chris Sutton brought James to his knees with one fierce shot from long range, then another by Wilcox, following a corner, threatened to cause real damage. In the end, McManaman headed off the line after Kvarme's intercepting foot took the ball in a wicked arc towards the far top corner of the Liverpool net.
McManaman, taunted mercilessly by the Blackburn supporters about the enormous wage demands that were said to have scuppered his proposed £12 million transfer to Barcelona, nearly put his head to even better use at the other end of the field. Arriving unseen at the far post, the attacking midfielder nodded Jones's deep cross only just wide.
Although Wilcox was close to turning in the low centre Stuart Ripley sent skimming across the face of Liverpool's goal, the visitors came in to the game much more as the interval approached. Jones's accurate, flighted centres from the right were a particular threat to Blackburn, as Riedle proved after 35 minutes by hammering one of them against their crossbar with his head.
It was an aerial challenge, too, which cost Blackburn the services of the dominating Henchoz. A minute after Riedle's near miss, the Swiss international, who had been off the field receiving treatment for a head wound, was replaced by Ian Pearce. The substitute defender did not confine himself to defensive duties, James having to beat away a shot from him in the last minute of the first half.
Liverpool, too, had gone close to scoring in the minutes before half-time. Owen, hanging on to his first-team place in attack because Robbie Fowler had suffered a knee injury in training, bicycle-kicked the ball spectacularly over the Blackburn bar after Riedle had headed down a Stig Inge Bjornebye corner.
Liverpool began the second half with a much greater sense of purpose and a lot more cohesion than they showed at the start of the first 45 minutes. They were actually on the defensive, though, when they took the lead after 52 minutes through the enterprise of young Owen, who had looked a little out of his depth previously against central defenders of the quality and experience of Henchoz and Colin Hendry.
There was no hesitating by the England youth international this time, however, when he intercepted a crossfield pass by Wilcox on the halfway line. Putting his head down and sprinting for goal, the youngster kept just far enough ahead of the chasing Blackburn defenders to have time to drill the ball coolly under John Filan as the goalkeeper came out to challenge him. If McManaman had been capable of similar composure, Liverpool would have increased their lead after 65 minutes. Put clean through by Riedle, the England international dithered as Filan came out to him, failed to make up his mind what to do and ended up trying to chip the ball over the goalkeeper so tamely that he was able to throw up his right hand and intercept the ball.
Worse still, McManaman had the unmarked Owen to his left as another option. Unable to hide his feelings at the wasting of such a chance, the teenager held his head in his hands in anguished disappointment. James made good saves in the closing minutes from Lars Bohinen, another of Blackburn's substitutes, and Dahlin before the home side finally constructed an incisive attack of such cleverness that he was left helpless as Dahlin closed in for the equaliser.
Dahlin buds in a late flourish
Joe Lovejoy at Ewood Park
Blackburn Rovers 1 Liverpool 1
THIS bank holiday edition of New Faces ended in a split decision and Blackburn Rovers still top of the Premier League. But the focus was not so much on Michael Owen and Martin Dahlin, the day's scorers, as on the endlessly contentious Steve McManaman, who should have won it for Liverpool. Young Owen thought he had done so, with the third goal of his fledgling career, but Dahlin's first since his £2.5m transfer from Roma, scored five minutes from time, extended Rovers' unbeaten start and left Liverpool with just two points from their first three games.
On the balance of play and chances created it was an equitable outcome, but Karlheinz Riedle headed strongly against the crossbar and wasted another gilt-edged opportunity with a tame shot, and McManaman's feeble finish when he should have made it 2-0 left Liverpool in "if only" mood.
With the possible exception of Gerry Francis, no manager needed a good result yesterday more than Roy Evans. After two years of under-achievement, much is expected of his new, improved Liverpool this season, and defeat against Leicester City in their first home game was not exactly what everyone had in mind.
A win here would have banished ridiculously premature talk of an Anfield crisis. Instead, Evans's critics are tittle-tattling on overtime. He was again without his goalscorer-in-chief, Robbie Fowler, who tweaked a knee in training, and his new engine room artificer, Oyvind Leonhardsen. But the red legions made the short journey into Lancashire in high-decibel expectation.
After successive wins, including the 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa, Rovers huffed and puffed with lung-bursting vigour to maintain the momentum out of the blocks that has made them the early pace-setters. Selling another two of their 1995 champions, Graeme Le Saux and Henning Berg, would seem to have done no harm.
A sideshow to a good, competitive match, there was the McManaman angle. How would Liverpool's supporters react to the transfer that never was, to Barcelona? McManaman, disingenuously, had sought to play down the whole business on the specious grounds that he had not negotiated with the Spanish club. True enough, his agent had spoken to them on his behalf.
In the newspaper column McManaman and his ghost writer have turned into a regular diatribe against "the media", there was the suggestion yesterday that reporters who dared to hint at a frailty in the face of man-to-man marking, and a failure to fulfil his undoubted potential, had "got together to scrape an excuse for an idea from the bottom of the barrel". Spoilt brat nonsense.
Midway through the second half, with Liverpool leading 1-0 and looking to kill off Rovers, Riedle played him through into the penalty area, all alone. Left with only John Filan to beat, he dithered over his shot and, with Owen steaming up unattended to his left, produced a tentative finish which allowed the goalkeeper to make a reaching, one-handed save.
Evans thought it was the key incident. "He had too many options, thought about all of them and missed it," was his verdict. The profligate's public remained supportive cries of "One greedy bastard" coming only from the home fans.
In the first half, Blackburn were noticeably more urgent in their build-up play, preferring their two championship-winning wingers, Stuart Ripley and Jason Wilcox, to wing-backs. It was Liverpool, however, who created the three best chances.
The first of these came when Riedle, on the burst, muscled his way past Stephane Henchoz 20 yards out before shooting weakly. Blackburn responded vigorously, notably with a deflected shot from Wilcox which McManaman headed off the line, but Liverpool kept coming back at them, and Riedle was unlucky when the firm header with which he met Rob Jones's cross smacked against the bar.
Jones was back in international form, contributing in defence and attack, and the same was true of Blackburn's right-back, Patrick Valery, from Bastia, who missed no opportunity to surge forward in support.
Ince was not at his most influential, but Michael Thomas ensured Liverpool were never short of possession, and they were not flattered when they went ahead, after 52 minutes. Wilcox's maladroit attempt at a clearance was charged down by the waspish Owen, who ran 50 yards with three defenders in his wake before placing the coolest of shots past the advancing goalkeeper.
McManaman ought to have put parity beyond Blackburn's reach, but the poverty of his shooting reprieved them and, duly grateful, they assembled a stirring finish which saw David James save from Lars Bohinen and Dahlin.
With five minutes left, their spirit had its reward when Bohinen and Steve Sutton set up Dahlin and, with James transfixed, the Swede scored from ten yards.
Evans thought it was a case of two points lost, but was happy enough with the performance. "If they continue to show that sort of passion, we'll be all right." He will, too.