This weeks man in the middle - Howard Webb
You can tell when the ref has had a poor game by a number of factors. Two of those include the home fans cheering each time the ref gave a free kick to the Brummies and the fact that you're still unhappy, despite doing the double over the red scousers.
Webb started off brightly enough. He was content to let players know that their fouls were being counted and to warn them to tone it down. He followed the action so closely that we saw a few evasive jumps from the man in black as he got out of the way of a pass or two.
But, as the game progressed, it became clear that he wasn't happy with the scouse stars being outshone by the boys in royal blue. Free kicks for Liverpool were given for the slightest and/or silliest of Birmingham infringements and Blues were often denied the joy of advantage as Webb halted the progress of play, thus allowing the away team to regroup.
Near the end of the first half Blues had a breakthrough when Webb decided to award a penalty. It looked soft at the time but, having watched it, the ref got it right. Cunningham played the ball into the area and Heskey was clearly held back by Hyypia, who, as he fell clutching at Heskey, wrapped his legs around the forward and prevented him from advancing towards goal. The ref pointed to the spot but failed to produce a card.
Webb got his own back when in the second half Heskey was booked for a foul on Dietmar Hamann, the sort of foul Heskey had been on the end of all afternoon.
Tebily may have felt his yellow for being a bit reckless with Baros was rough justice but there's little room for criticism.
The main gripe has to be the way Steven Gerrard was treated. As the game progressed Gerrard became increasingly frustrated with the way Johnson and Clemence effectively dominated the centre of the park. Realising he had little chance of playing the ball, he decided to kick out at anything in blue. If that wasn't enough he also on one occasion decided to use his elbow. The ref saw it but refused to book him. Gerrard was then urged to calm down by the ref after a crude looking challenge on Stephen Clemence as tempers showed signs of becoming frayed.
Ref rating - 6/10. Unbalanced.
Booked: Tebily, Heskey.