Just what Liverpool needed, two points dropped and Robbie Fowler sent off as they attempt to marshal their forces for the battle with Strasbourg tomorrow night.
The Merseysiders are now three wins adrift of the leaders Manchester United and their dream of a first title since 1990 is drifting off into a hazy red mist. They are next faced with overcoming the 3-0 deficit from the first leg of their UEFA Cup tie with the French, and if they fail to do that probably their only hope of meaningful silverware this season will be the FA Cup which they last won in 1992. Clearly all is not well in the house that Shankly built.
The £4.2 million Paul Ince will also miss the next three games after collecting his fifth booking of the season for a foul on Mike Whitlow five minutes from time. Further trouble was only narrowly avoided when the fuming captain was hauled away from the referee by a trackside official on the final whistle.
Dermot Gallagher was criticised by the Liverpool manager Roy Evans for his overall handling of the match but the referee - who is blessed with more common sense than the average Premiership official - had a difficult job treading a fine line between punishing those transgressors stirred up by Bolton Wanderers' overly rugged approach and keeping an exciting game flowing, which he did very well.
Liverpool had only themselves to blame. They were 1-0 up and cruising through Fowler's opportunist shot after just 50 seconds when the striker reacted to some ankle tapping by lashing out at Per Frandsen yards from the referee.
The flaxen-haired Dane crumpled to the floor as Gallagher whipped out his red card. "It was a great hit," admitted the groggy midfielder after he had been helped from the pitch.
"It was an open and shut case," said Gallagher. "I have to say he held his arm up straight away and said, `I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it,' and I admire him for that."
The sending-off turned out to be doubly significant when Frandsen's 75th-minute replacement - Franz Carr, making his debut as he stopped off on his way back from Reggiana in Serie B - and in the 84th minute he engineered an opening on the right touchline, Jimmy Phillips fired in the cross and Nathan Blake rose to deftly head the equaliser.
"I'm delighted with our performance," Colin Todd said of his new-look team, who have sacrificed the cavalier style that took the First Division by storm for a belt and braces pragmatism designed to secure Premiership survival.
Guardian Service. BOLTON WANDERERS: Branagan, Frandsen (Carr 77), Blake, Thompson, Pollock, Bergsson, Phillips, Fish, Beardsley (Gunnlaugsson 59), Whitlow, Holdsworth. Subs Not Used: Johansen, Aljofree, Ward. Booked: Phillips, Thompson. Goals: Blake 84.
LIVERPOOL: James, Jones, Kvarme, McManaman, Leonhardsen, Fowler, Redknapp, Ince, Owen (Riedle 75), Bjornebye, Matteo. Subs Not Used: McAteer, Nielson, Harkness, Berger. Sent Off: Fowler (75). Booked: Bjornebye, Fowler, Ince. Goals: Fowler 1.
Referee: D J Gallagher (Banbury).
