The supporters of Atlético Madrid flew into John Lennon Airport in readiness for the greatest Euro love-in since the Beatle and Yoko Ono flung open the doors of Room 902 at the Amsterdam Hilton. This match had been billed as a celebration of Fernando Torres, the Atlético talisman turned Anfield idol, but, in his absence, it proved to be a perpetuation of two Merseyside myths: the dubious late penalty at the Kop End and the subsequent nerveless intervention of the ever-reliable Steven Gerrard.

Unbeaten for the first 16 games of the season in all competitions, Liverpool seemed to have resigned themselves to a second successive defeat by the time the match entered the fourth minute of stoppage time. As the ball bounced in the penalty area, Gerrard desperately threw himself into a challenge with Maríano Pernia, more in hope than in expectation.

There was a collision, but, having twice been turned down earlier in the evening, the last thing that Liverpool’s players were expecting was for Martin Hansson, the Swedish referee, to award a penalty.

While Atlético protested bitterly, earning a series of yellow cards, Gerrard kept his cool to score from the penalty spot, keeping his team well on course for the knockout stages and sending Torres and just about everyone else home happy.

Gerrard suggested afterwards that it had been a foul and that a free kick would have been given without the slightest furore had the collision occurred elsewhere on the pitch. Perhaps he had a point. But he also had sympathy with Atlético. “I can understand their disappointment because of the timing of it,” he said. “If it had happened at the other end, we would have been livid. But that’s football and we have to move on. It was a big result for us. Good teams don’t usually lose two games in a row, so it was important we got something.”

As far as their Champions League aspirations are concerned, defeat would have been an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe for Liverpool with their strong start in group D coupled with a Marseilles victory over PSV Eindhoven leaving them in a commanding position behind Atlético but level on points. Perhaps the most important aspect of Gerrard’s goal was in averting another defeat, three days after the late capitulation away to Tottenham Hotspur, and in underlining the point that they can score goals without Torres, even if the experiences of the past month have seen them leave it late a little too often for their own comfort.

Atlético’s supporters seemed to be as disappointed as the Liverpool contingent when it was announced before kick-off that Torres would not be in the home team’s 18-man squad, having decided not to gamble with his fitness by playing against the team he represented with distinction in his youth. But by the time that Maxi Rodríguez gave the Spanish team the lead in the 37th minute, starting and finishing a flowing move down the right, they had warmed to the idea of this being a night when they could do more than merely indulge in nostalgia.

Liverpool were the more dominant team, but, for all the impressive work of Xabi Alonso, particularly in the first half, they struggled to create clear opportunities. The best of them fell to Robbie Keane, but it still seems that the red No 7 shirt is weighing heavily on his shoulders. By the time the game entered its closing stages, with Hansson having turned down two strong penalty appeals from Liverpool and, it should be noted, one from Atlético, Keane had been substituted, his place taken by David Ngog, a raw teenager.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, said afterwards that he had no concerns about Keane, adding that he had hoped simply that a change of striker would bring about a change of luck. Coming from an arch-strategist such as Benítez, it sounded desperate.

Liverpool’s luck, though, did change thanks to Gerrard’s persistence. It was the eighth time this season that he and his team-mates had managed to save themselves — usually with a winning goal, but in this case an equaliser — in the final ten minutes of a game. They are a lucky team, but the best sides usually are, as Torres, his air of neutrality long since forgotten, would no doubt concur.

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, J Carragher, D Agger, F Aurélio — D Kuyt, J Mascherano (sub: Lucas Leiva, 77min), X Alonso, A Riera (sub: R Babel, 61) — S Gerrard — R Keane (sub: D Ngog, 71). Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, A Dossena, P Degen, Y Benayoun.

Atlético Madrid (4-1-4-1): L Franco — A López, L Perea, J Heitinga, M Pernía, — P Assunção — M Rodríguez, Maniche, R García, Simão (sub: L García, 90) — D Forlán (sub: S Agüero, 71). Substitutes not used: G Coupet, P Ibáñez, I Camacho, É Banega, F Sinama Pongolle. Booked: Maniche, Perea, Heitinga, Pernía, Agüero.

Referee: M Hansson (Sweden).