THE TALK beforehand, even among the City fans, was of how many, but the three goals Liverpool scored were no sort of reflection on a game in which the Tigers matched the visitors for long periods. Even after being reduced to 10 men when Caleb Folan was rightly sent off, and going two down immediately afterwards, City fought with a spirit born of desperation. They pulled a goal back and put Liverpool under severe pressure before Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt’s second strike finally made the game safe in the 89th minute, and put the pressure back on Manchester United.

It would, however, be a mistake to ascribe any defensive nervousness on Liverpool’s part to their opponents. Not at all, said Rafa Benitez afterwards, it was the fault of the pitch.

“We were a little bit nervous because the pitch was terrible, it was dry, the grass was long and it was very difficult to pass the ball, so you can make mistakes when the other team tries to press,” said the Spaniard.

“It’s part of the game, you have to accept it, and we were better in the second half. The sending-off was very clear. After this, credit to them, because even with 10 players they were pushing, but it was just a question of timing. We had to pass the ball correctly two or three times to have a chance.”

As an impression of the game it was less than generous, and certainly not generally held. It might have been after five minutes, when Liverpool nearly went ahead after Yossi Benayoun’s shot rebounded off Michael Turner to the feet of Fernando Torres. The striker’s sidefooted effort was heading for the top corner when City goalkeeper Boaz Myhill touched it over the bar.

Benayoun curled a shot on to the roof of the net soon afterwards, but City, chasing every pass, were already beginning to grow in confidence. Dean Marney shot wide, but Pepe Reina’s dive was no more than a gesture when Geovanni’s brilliantly executed 30-yard volley screamed a foot wide.

With an encouraged crowd noisily trying to recreate something of the atmosphere of the early part of the season, Liverpool’s back four looked decidedly edgy, not least when Alvaro Arbeloa gave away unnecessary corners twice in two minutes. Given that half of the 36 league goals City scored before this game had come from set-pieces, Benitez cannot have been impressed, and nor can he have been when the fact both were eventually scrambled clear owed as much to luck as to judgment.

In possession, it was a different story. Hard though Hull worked to close down the man in possession, Xabi Alonso’s influence began to grow. Martin Atkinson’s decision to award the visitors a free kick for a foul by George Boateng on Javier Mascherano shortly before half-time was generous, but Hull looked to have got away with it when Alonso curled it straight into the wall. The ball rebounded straight to him, however, and the resulting swerving volley through the crowd of players gave Myhill no chance.

For all that they were applauded off at half-time, the demeanour of the Hull players confirmed the timing of the strike was deflating. They still looked dispirited at the restart and might have been even more so shortly before the hour, when Folan was sent off for stupidly kicking out at Martin Skrtel after the defender beat him to a through-ball.

Without the benefit of a replay, the crowd let Skrtel know what they thought of him, and their disposition was not improved two minutes later, when Skrtel’s scuffed shot bounced up for Kuyt to head past Myhill.

That should surely have been that, but again Liverpool’s Achilles heel was exposed. Phil Brown had made a double substitution after Folan’s dismissal, and the two men who came on, Bernard Mendy and Daniel Cousin, combined superbly to set up Geovanni to turn the ball into the net.

Liverpool were wobbling, with Reina dealing far from convincingly with a series of high balls into the box. Torres should have eased their nerves but headed against the bar, and only a minute remained when the admirable Kuyt beat Myhill for a second time.

“The disappointing thing from my point of view is we’ve kept our best for the best — and we need to keep our best for teams that, with all respect, are not the best,” said Phil Brown. With games against Aston Villa, Stoke, Bolton and Manchester United to come, their game plan is clear.

Star man: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool).

Yellow cards: Hull City: Marney, Fagan Liverpool: Arbeloa.

Red card: Hull City: Folan.

Referee: M Atkinson.

Attendance: 24,942.

HULL CITY: Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Turner 6, Zayatte 6, Kilbane 6, Fagan 5 (Mendy 61min), Marney 6, Boateng 6 (Manucho 78min), Barmby 6 (Cousin 61min), Geovanni 6, Folan 4.

LIVERPOOL: Reina 5, Arbeloa 5, Carragher 6, Skrtel 6, Insua 6, Alonso 7, Mascherano 6 (El Zhar 84min), Kuyt 8 (Dossena 89min), Lucas 6, Benayoun 6 (Agger 88min), Torres 5