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Giroud pulls his foot back to shoot and score as Martin Skrtel (left), Steven Gerrard (centre) and Kolo Toure helplessly look on

ENGLAND. — Just as well they stopped the clock, really. Referee Michael Oliver added nine minutes, mostly for a head injury to Martin Skrtel. In that additional age, the man himself scored. Maybe he got some extra rebound off the padding. It was certainly thick enough. Skrtel wore his giant bandage like a fallen halo, after Oliver Giroud stepped on his head. And he used that precise part of his anatomy – his patched up skull – to head the goal that gave Liverpool a deserved point.

There were 96 minutes gone when Adam Lallana raced over to take a corner in front of The Kop. Liverpool trailed by one goal and one man, having had Fabio Borini sent off for two bookable offences in close succession – stupid dissent and a reckless high kick on Santi Cazorla.

They didn’t look finished, because they rarely do at Anfield, but after missing so many good chances at Old Trafford a week ago this looked like another one getting away. Skrtel had other ideas. Gerrard planted the ball directly on his cueball noggin – Skrtel did the rest.

The ball flew past Wojciech Szczesny in a way that reminded Liverpool what they were missing. Presence, true presence, in the box.

That is what Arsenal have, and it nearly won them the game. True, nobody regards Giroud as the one that got away. He is not Alexis Sanchez or Cesc Fabregas. Not even Raheem Sterling.

Yet at Anfield yesterday, as he stuck the ball smartly between the legs of Brad Jones, what would Liverpool have given for a finisher of his competence? They had enjoyed high levels of possession, plenty of action around the Arsenal goalmouth, and yet there looked to be only one winner until Skrtel’s late intervention. Arsenal lived off starvation rations, yet scored whenever they got in range; Liverpool must have been sick of the ball by the end but couldn’t put it into the net.

With match winners variously sold, sick or suspended there is obviously mitigation, but it cannot continue like this. Liverpool are not strong enough at the back to keep a clean sheet, so have to score – often more than once. Giroud showed them how to do that. He is not the most cultured striker in the league, but he knows where the target is.

His goal, scored after 64 minutes, was a thing of beauty. Sanchez burst down the left and fed the ball into Giroud. He laid it off, intelligently, to Cazorla who took it to the by-line and cut it back, a perfect return pass.

Giroud seized the moment and drove it, first time, through the legs of Jones. That is what is missing from Liverpool right now: confidence, swagger, the determination to define matches.

After 16 games last season, Arsenal and Liverpool were first and second. Going into this match with the same number of games played these teams were sixth and 11th. Coming out of it Liverpool had risen a place – but despite this feel-good finale it is still a long way from where they want to be.

It sums up Liverpool’s season that having fought so hard to make a breakthrough, they should finally get past Arsenal, only to keep their lead for little more than a minute.

The opening goal, arriving after 45 minutes of breathless hustle, was no more than Liverpool deserved. True, they had not created many great chances, far less forced goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny into action, but they had the lion’s share of possession – 79 per cent at the quarter-way stage – and worked considerably harder at making the game than Arsene Wenger’s side. It is not often we see Arsenal out-passed like this, so credit to Liverpool for sticking to their principles under the pressure of a floundering season.

Brendan Rodgers had come out fighting before this match, particularly in defence of Raheem Sterling, and Liverpool carried that talk into the match.

Philippe Coutinho was the pick of the forwards, orchestrating play in a withdrawn role, and Lazar Markovic on the left was involved in much of the good stuff, too. He has been ordinary since his summer arrival from Benfica, but there were signs in the doomed final Champions League match with Basel that he was beginning to settle at last. He needs to be physically stronger if he is to make a real impact in the Premier League – but how many players have we seen struggle in their first English season, only to sprout wings in their second? In glimpses, Markovic showed great potential yesterday.

It was his pass that put Coutinho away after just two minutes, Per Mertesacker mightily lucky not to be booked for a trip outside the area as the Brazilian loomed on goal. Steven Gerrard put the free-kick over. There were 12 minutes gone when Markovic released Adam Lallana who snatched at his shot, sending it high. And it was Markovic again on 35 minutes who forced the only save of the first-half from Szczesny, after a fierce Gerrard tackle had sent the ball into his path. The Arsenal goalkeeper was quickly alert to the danger and saved at his feet.

Meanwhile Adam Johnson scored in the 90th minute to give Sunderland their fourth successive win over Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear derby.

The winger placed his shot past Jak Alnwick following an excellent counter-attack by the Black Cats.

They also went close through Steven Fletcher, whose shot hit the post, while Connor Wickham wasted chances.

Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez was twice denied by Costel Pantilimon, who also saved from Moussa Sissoko.

There was barely time for the home side to test the Romanian keeper again after the goal, as Sunderland held on for their third successive victory on Tyneside and only their third league win of the season.

The result lifts them to 14th in the table, and further cements Gus Poyet’s hero status among the club’s fans after he once again commandeered his players to a memorable victory at their rivals.

As for Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, the result and manner of it will be tough to swallow. He now carries the unwanted tag of being the first Magpies manager to lose four successive Tyne-Wear derbies.

Bar a strike from Sissoko, the Magpies barely threatened in the first half. But they improved after the break and went close to taking the lead through Perez, who forced an brilliant save from Pantilimon. The keeper also denied the Spain Under-21 striker with a good low stop.

Sunderland were sloppy with their passing in the second 45 minutes, having looked more assured in the first. They created several chances to score in that period with Fletcher firing a volley against the crossbar and Wickham wasting two efforts with his head.

Poyet’s men picked up two yellows to Newcastle’s three in a feisty opening half, although their battling midfielder Lee Cattermole escaped a booking despite scything down Daryl Janmaat in the first minute.

With the match looking as if it was going peter out to a draw, Sunderland sprung a surprise.

Newcastle looked susceptible on the counter throughout the match and were caught again. Johnson, who had earlier missed with a side-foot effort from eight yards, made no mistake when he smashed home Will Buckley’s lay-off. It was the former Middlesbrough player’s third goal in three seasons against Newcastle.

Earlier in the match, the Magpies fans paid tribute to their rivals for their support in the aftermath of the deaths of fans Liam Sweeney and John Alder in the MH-17 crash in July, while their Sunderland counterparts applauded in tribute on 17 minutes. — Mailonline.