With six former Reds in the Blackburn ranks you could have been forgiven for thinking you'd gate crashed a reunion of former Liverpool players at Ewood Park this afternoon. But friends re-united this was not.
A brace of goals from Michael Owen cancelled out a Matt Jansen opener before Harry Kewell sealed a crucial 3-1 victory, yet these statistics tell only half the story of an explosive, entertaining and incident-packed encounter.
As expected, ex-Kop boss Graeme Souness named Brad Friedel, Davey Thompson and the on-loan Markus Babbel in his line-up, while alongside him on the bench sat Phil Boersma and Dean Saunders.
But it was the present day Anfield heroes whom the 7,000 strong army of travelling Liverpudlians were more interested in and the news that Gerard Houllier had opted to stick with the same starting eleven that defeated Everton in the Merseyside derby a fortnight ago was warmly welcomed.
Having collected their first three-point haul of the season at the expense of the Blues Liverpool went into this game high on confidence but were rocked as early as the second minute when Milan Baros was stretchered off following a tackle from behind by Babbel.
If losing the in-form Czech striker was not bad enough the Reds then found themselves a goal down shortly afterwards when Jansen showed good skill to beat Carragher on the edge of the box before unleashing a clinical volley that gave Dudek no chance.
Despite this nightmare start Liverpool refused to let their heads drop and within three minutes of Rovers taking the lead they drew level via the penalty spot. Gresko brought down Diouf inside the box and Michael Owen stepped up to confidently tuck his kick into Friedel's bottom left-hand corner.
Following such an explosive start a lull in proceedings was expected but the early drama was not yet over had and before the quarter hour mark the home side were reduced to ten men when Lucas Neill was given his marching orders for a challenge on Jamie Carragher.
It was an incident that forced Liverpool into making their second substitution, but against ten men the Reds then took a firm grip on the game and laid siege to the Blackburn goal. Owen should have scored when one on one with Friedel and Gerrard saw a long-range drive superbly tipped over as a frenetic first half drew to a close.
Just as entertaining as the on-field shenanigans was the animated antics of messrs Houllier, Thompson and Souness on the touchline, where the mood became more and more heated as the tackles continued to fly in.
The high tempo was maintained in the second period and although Blackburn enjoyed some early pressure it was a fully deserved lead Liverpool took in the 67th minute.
Owen had squandered two previous chances to net his second of the afternoon but he made no mistake when the ball fell invitingly to him 12-yards from goal with only Friedel to beat. He smashed the ball home with conviction to register his fifth of the season then celebrated wildly in front of the jubilant travelling fans.
With Diouf proving himself a constant menace down the right flank another Reds goal looked more likely than a Rovers equaliser as time ticked by.
Owen could and should have had his hat-trick towards the end and young Anthony Le Tallec was handed his Premiership debut as a late substitute for Steven Gerrard before Harry Kewell provided the icing on the cake of a superb performance when he coolly finished a flowing move in the final minute.
Six goals and six points in the last two games. Gerard Houllier's new attacking policy is paying dividends.
Teams
Blackburn Rovers: Friedel, Neill, Gresko, Amoruso, Babbel, Thompson, Flitcroft, Emerton, Ferguson, Cole, Jansen. Subs - Kelly, Yorke, Baggio, Johansson, Tugay.
Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Biscan, Gerrard, Diouf, Kewell, Smicer, Owen, Baros. Subs - Luzi, Heskey, Riise, Traore, Le Tallec.
Referee: Neale Barry
Attendance: 30,074
Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: El Hadji Diouf
