Derby hearts broken as last-gasp Gerrard wins it for Liverpool

Were it not for his captain, Benitez would be facing an even more uncertain future at Anfield than he is already.

• More Derby news

• More Liverpool news

In the wake of the 2005 Champions League triumph that still defines Benitez's time on Merseyside, Gerrard came within hours of leaving Liverpool for Chelsea. Benitez was accused of not showing his team's key figure enough love.

Scroll down for more

After another crucial intervention from Gerrard at Pride Park yesterday, Benitez has plenty of reason to feel grateful to him again. It is to be hoped the Spaniard sent Gerrard and his family a Christmas card. Liverpool were embarrassing at times yesterday.

Facing one of the worst sides in the Barclays Premier League in recent memory — Derby are all heart and little talent — Liverpool managed to turn overwhelming superiority into a mad, desperate scrap for victory.

Had Giles Barnes not headed over when it was easier to score with five minutes left, Liverpool would have lost and Benitez would have faced an uncomfortable transatlantic phone call from the American employers who remain unconvinced that he is the man to take the club forward.

As it was, Gerrard was afforded the chance to take control when those around him were faltering.

The task seemed beyond even him when — with five minutes left — his right-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety.

But as injury time approached and with Liverpool back in the ascendancy, Gerrard contributed one final lung-bursting effort to travel the length of the pitch and bundle the ball into the net after young keeper Lewis Price had parried Fernando Torres' close-range shot.

That save from Torres would have earned Price hero worship from 30,000 desperate Derby fans but, as he went to collect the ball from his own push-out, defender Jay McEveley swung at it and could only divert it in to the Liverpool captain's path.

It was tough on Price, a young man making his debut after Stephen Bywater injured himself in the warm-up. Despite suffering problems with his kicking, Price had grown in confidence as the game wore on and had saved well from Xabi Alonso with 10 minutes to go.

When you sit at the bottom of the Premier League these are the things that happen.

Afterwards, Benitez was sanguine and refused to accept that Gerrard — the scorer of eight goals in his last 10 club games — was too pivotal a figure for his team.

Benitez said: 'It's not just him. We have three or four — such as Torres and Voronin — who can do this. Stevie is a key player for us. He is a top-class player. They must be there when we need them. Our problem today was that we played really well in the first half but we didn't kill the game. And when you do that you sometimes have a problem.'

Some Liverpool supporters may take issue with Benitez's description of Andriy Voronin as a top player but it is hard to disagree with the latter half of the manager's summary.

Derby were so poor — so timid in the first half — that it was remarkable that Liverpool were only one goal to the good at half time.

With Xabi Alonso playing majestically alongside Gerrard in the centre of midfield, Liverpool stretched Paul Jewell's side and looked set to amble to victory once Torres had bamboozled Darren Moore and then Dean Leacock to score a wonderful opening goal in the 12th minute.

Derby were in disarray. No sooner had Moore clambered to his feet after the first goal than he was clattering in to team-mate Stephen Pearson. The Derby captain left the field with a dislocated shoulder and that just about summed up the home team's first half.

Crucially, though, Liverpool did not score again and once Ryan Babel volleyed over at the far post and Jamie Carragher missed a chance from a corner the impetus began tangibly to drain from Benitez's players.

This, crucially, would appear to be the difference between Liverpool and other title contenders at the moment.

While Manchester United went in at half-time with a 3-0 lead at Sunderland, Liverpool knew at the interval that they still had work to do.

In the second half, as Derby came at them with belated vigour, Liverpool retreated in to themselves.

Both full backs began to struggle, Sami Hyypia disappeared with an ankle problem and though Alonso remained in the thick of things players such as Babel and Voronin became peripheral.

Having been chastised by their manager at half-time, Derby began to play with a little purpose and finally scored their first goal at home since September 29 in the 67th minute.

Kenny Miller's free-kick was missed by Fabio Aurelio, rebounded from Torres' shins and was drilled across Pepe Reina by Jay McEveley.

Derby fans went home cheered by their team's effort but upset about a 'foul' by Aurelio in the run-up to Liverpool's winner.

Jewell said: 'I was too far away to see, really. But I was pleased with our effort in the second half. 'In the first half we were scared of Liverpool but we competed after the break.'

Derby: Price, Mears, Leacock, Moore, McEveley, Teale, Barnes, Pearson, Lewis, Howard, Miller. Subs: Hinchliffe, Johnson, Earnshaw, Fagan, Feilhaber.

Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Babel, Gerrard, Alonso, Aurelio, Torres, Voronin. Subs: Itandje, Benayoun, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas.

Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)