Football: Marshall punishes Liverpool

Liverpool 0 Leicester 1

A GOAL 44 seconds from full time by their stand-in striker, Ian Marshall, gave Leicester a rare Premiership double over Liverpool, whose second home defeat by Midlands opposition in four days confirms the feeling that the end of the season cannot come quickly enough at Anfield.

A game with little at stake was wending its apparently inevitable way towards a goalless draw when Andrew Impey launched a long ball down field. Marshall, who was hardly likely to have been playing if Emile Heskey had not gone down with a throat infection, latched on to it and drove a low shot past David James. Anfield had been unnaturally quiet all night - except when the news came through that Juventus were 2-0 ahead - but now most of it fell completely silent.

"Impey was attempting to clear his lines and found Marshall. I'm delighted he did, because it's a great result for us," said Martin O'Neill, the Leicester manager. "I was talking about giving him another year on his contract, which would take him up to the age of about 83," he said of the former Everton and Oldham utility man, who had started his first game of the season. "He wants another two years now."

Marshall's immediate prospects might look rather better than those of some of Liverpool's players, because this was another deeply flawed performance. There were excuses, of course, in the absence of both the injured Michael Owen and the suspended Robbie Fowler, but they still had the chances to make an early breakthrough.

By far the best fell to Steve McManaman, pushed up front as an emergency striker and presented with an open goal by Paul Ince's header and Oyvind Leonhardsen's touch. McManaman blazed high and the vital opportunity was spurned.

After that, it was the Liverpool fringe players who looked most likely to break the deadlock. Leonhardsen, in only his fourth start of the season, was the liveliest of a poor lot, while David Thompson created occasional problems on the right flank. "I'm sorry for the players tonight because they fought and tried hard, but obviously lacked a lot of confidence," said Gerard Houllier, the Liverpool manager. "We created chances and our passing and movement were good. What we lacked was the finishing."

As the game went on, however, it was Leicester who came more strongly into it, Tony Cottee twice coming close to capitalising on crosses that eluded an uncertain defence.

Liverpool did succeed in exerting some pressure near the end, with a series of corners testing out the Leicester rearguard, but then the 33- year-old Marshall belied his years with his decisive contribution. "We conceded a silly goal on the break," said Houllier. "It was a very, very poor piece of defensive play. Marshall should never have been left on his own."

But he was and Liverpool's dismal run-in to the end of a depressing season goes on.

Liverpool (4-4-2): James; Song, Carragher, Babb, Matteo; Thompson (Dundee 66), Redknapp, Ince, Leonhardsen; McManaman, Riedle. Substitutes not used: Kvarme, Staunton, Ferri, Friedel (gk).

Leicester City (3-5-2): Keller; Sinclair, Elliott, Kaamark; Impey, Savage, Lennon, Gunnlaugsson (Campbell 55), Guppy; Marshall, Cottee. Substitutes not used: Miller, Fenton, Arphexad (gk) Zagorakis.

Referee: G Poll (Berkhampstead).