Red hot* - Debbie Gibson

Man, what a derby it was!!! It just sparked to life in the second half. And when it did, what an adrenalin rush it was. The drama, the baffling substitutions, the high-flying tackles, the yellow and red cards, the many chances!!!

At the end, all that mattered was how one Dutch man performed when the responsibility fell on him. Only one word can describe Dirk Kuyt - bottle!!!! He's got it. Loads of it!

For someone who has not scored in the Premiership since April, it really took a lot for him to take the penalty kick! In a Merseyside Derby!!! When Liverpool was down by one goal!!!!! I cannot begin to imagine the pressure that could have been upon his shoulders.

But he did it. Twice!!!! The second after a very unsportsmanlike act by Phil Neville who denied Lucas a Premiership debut goal.

It was however a grim reminder that Liverpool has not been winning many games - which made this win - altho on its own, as a merseyside derby, a very sweet win - even more the sweeter. What is sad is that altho this was a win, they dun look convincing enuf to (re)launch their Premiership title challenge.

Maybe once Torres, Agger and Alonso returns, things might get better. And once Gerrard gets shoved back to the right side of midfield (see this article).

Well, here's hoping that this is the start of a good sports weekend - with the Rugby finals later and the Brazilian GP tomorrow.

p/s - one thing which struck me about the game were the pre-match scenes around the stadium b4 the game. The Merseyside derbies are such special events as the city of Liverpool is suddenly divided into the blues and the reds. Husbands and wives could find themselves in different colours. Work mates and neighbours will be rooting for opposition teams. Yet, in spite of it all, there is nothing personal in it. This was reflected by a shot on 5 blokes in the stands - 3 in Liverpool colours while the other 2 in blue - how they were fooling around with each other, obviously being best of mates, so unlike international games or even other EPL matches when supporters in different colours will be separated. Thruout the game, the camera kept on going back to the 5, and those in blue and those in red were taking turns smiling and sulking - but they were together thru the whole game. Nice.

*Track #5 from her debut album, Out of the blue.