Watch highlights of last night's Merseyside derby I Debate has Cahill ended Liverpool's title challenge?

The uncomplimentary chant that is doing the rounds, started up by Manchester United’s supporters and gleefully seized upon by their Everton counterparts last night, is that “Rafa’s cracking up”, but Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, was eager to convey a sense of calm when he reflected on another night that heightened the perception of a team struggling to cope with the pressures of the Barclays Premier League title race.

Asked whether Tim Cahill’s 87th-minute equalising goal represented a serious blow to Liverpool’s title hopes, Benítez said: “It is too soon to say. We are in a very good position. OK, it could be better, but we have to look at the positives. It is January and we are level on points at the top with Manchester United, we are also through in the Champions League and the FA Cup. You have to think about whether we would have wanted to be in this position if you asked back in August. I can guarantee that 100 per cent of the fans would have said yes. I have told the players that they have to look at the positives.”

Benítez was also pressed on whether he thought that he might have contributed to the pressure on Liverpool with some of his behaviour in recent weeks, most notably a tirade against Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, and with his decision to go public on the dispute with the club’s hierarchy over his new contract. Even the most devout Benítez loyalist might struggle to comprehend his timing in announcing on Friday that he was rejecting the contract he had been offered, but Benítez was eager to dismiss the idea that it might have had an adverse effect on his players. “I will talk about football,” he said. “I think that my team was winning with three minutes to go.”

Anxiety in the home ranks was certainly a factor in the late drama, but another was the resilience of an Everton team who have now gone seven matches without losing since a chastening 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa on December 7. Steven Gerrard’s goal was the first that Everton have conceded during that run and, with the Merseyside clubs scheduled to meet at Anfield again in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday, David Moyes, the manager, was quick to praise the character of his team.

“I think the Everton players deserved that,” he said. “It’s another point against a good team who are working hard to try to win the championship and who buy players with that in mind. We’re not in that position, but I think the performance shows how far Everton have come. For us to come here and give them a good game says more about us than it does about Liverpool tonight.”

Cahill’s goal ensured that Everton will return to Anfield in high spirits on Sunday, but Moyes was reluctant to say too much about the psychological importance of that goal. “The FA Cup is a completely different game,” he said. “What I will say is that we had a job to do to get something from the game and I think that we deserved what we got.”