This is one of those retro results that we don’t seem to get any more, in an era when the FA Cup’s charm generally percolates from the expectation of the ties, not the matches themselves; when minnows dream more deeply about facing big clubs and banking the cash than about beating them. Who writes the scripts these days? Accountants, probably.

Not this one. Signed by Manchester United from Peterborough United for £500,000 as a teenager, Luke Steele is now 23 but has played only 48 first-team games, mostly for Coventry City. Third-choice at his present club, West Bromwich Albion, this fifth-round match was his first appearance since December and his third in the past 12 months. He joined Barnsley on a month’s “emergency loan” last Thursday because their first-choice goalkeeper is injured and their otherwas cup-tied.

Steele did not get a game in fouryears at Old Trafford; well, they say Sir Alex Ferguson’s judgment of goalkeepers is questionable. On Saturday, he performed like the reincarnation of Lev Yashin as injected with the DNA of Gordon Banks and hypnotised into believing he was the son of Dino Zoff.

Steele realised his promise in this game, a key factor as one of the “Big Four” lost at home in the Cup to a lower-league side for the first time since 2003, covering 21 fixtures.

“I got a phone call and was told I had a chance to come and play at Anfield straight away,” Steele said. “Obviously, I said yes immediately. I couldn’t believe it, really, as it’s been a frustrating time. To play any game at the moment is important to me, but to come here is amazing. There were some nerves on Thursday, but when I woke up this morning I just wanted to get on with the game. The nerves had gone and I felt brilliant.”

Far better than his previous Anfield experience with United in this competition two years ago. “Alan Smith broke his leg that day and I was in the stand as cover for Edwin van der Sar,” he said. “That was a dreadful day. We lost as well. They are my last memories of Anfield and so it’s good to come here and wipe those away.”

Davey was also wiping away when a bird relieved itself on him as he did a prematch radio interview. “I thought, ‘I hope that’s a lucky omen’,” he said. The Liverpool lineup certainly was. Either because he is stubborn, only interested in the Champions League or has a misguided faith in the ability of his squad players, Rafael BenÍtez’s teamsheets increasingly resemble suicide notes.

Without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, Liverpool are a sports car missing its steering wheel. The captain arrived off the bench in the 75th minute and immediately injected a sense of direction that might have had Barnsley beaten by half-time had he started. In defence, a virtual first- choice back four was wobbly, presumably jellied by the presence of Charles Itandje. As reserve goalkeepers go, he’s no Luke Steele.

The natural assumption had been that cautionary experiences in previous rounds against Luton Town and Havant & Waterlooville would not be repeated at home to the team with the joint-worst away record in the Coca- Cola Championship – especially once Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool a 32nd- minute lead. When players of this calibre do not learn, attention focuses on the teacher. BenÍtez’s verbal defences are tougher to penetrate than his team’s back line.“

To the players you must send the same message: keep working hard, keep creating chances and we will have more confidence,” the manager said. Questions on whether the fans are losing faith and the suggestion that failure to win the Champions League would doom him were met with variations on the same bland response: work hard, create chances,take them.

Jamie Carragher was more forthcoming. “It’s a major, major blow,” the defender said. “We’ve got a massive game coming up against Inter. This clearly isn’t the best preparation for Tuesday. But we had the same situation last season, when we lost to Arsenal twice in the cups and people were saying we were finished before we’d even played Barcelona. But we got through on that occasion and, hopefully, this can be the same again.”

Liverpool are 19 points behind Arsenal, the league leaders. “I wouldn’t call this just a bad spell, it’s been a lot longer than that,” Carragher said. “We realise we are not playing well enough. It’s not a matter of putting your finger on one reason, it’s simply because we have not been good enough.”

After Stephen Foster headed Barnsley level in the 57th minute, Steele, his defence and the frame of the goal thwarted Liverpool time and again. Then, from nowhere, having been denied a clear penalty seconds earlier, Brian Howard arrowed in the winner with almost the last kick of the game. It was a moment so dramatic as to make you believe in fate. And to make you think that BenÍtez can no longer shape his own destiny.

How they rated

Liverpool (4-4-2): C Itandje 4 - S Finnan 4 J Carragher Y 3 S Hyypia 4 J A Riise 3 - Y Benayoun 5 Lucas Leiva 5 X Alonso Y 4 R Babel 6 - D Kuyt 6 P Crouch 4 Substitutes: H Kewell 6 (for Babel, 69min), S Gerrard (for Lucas, 75). Not used: D Martin, J Pennant, Á Arbeloa. Next: Middlesbrough (h).

Barnsley (4-4-2): L Steele 9 B Hassell 7 D Souza 7 S Foster 7 R Kozluk 7 M Devaney 8 Anderson 6 B Howard 9 D Leon 7 I Ferenczi 6 D Nardiello 6 Substitutes: K Odejayi 8 (for Nardiello, 55), M van Homoet Y 6 (for Kozluk, 60); J Campbell-Ryce (for Leon, 71). Not used: M Coulson, S Togwell. Next: Norwich City (a).

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