Luis Suarez’s long-awaited return from suspension could not inspire Liverpool to victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
The Uruguay international, having served an eight-match suspension for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, had not played since Boxing Day.
And although he gave his side another dimension when he appeared as a second-half substitute, he could not end six weeks’ of frustration with a decisive intervention, missing a golden chance from close range late in the game.
As can be expected with Suarez, his 24-minute cameo was not without incident. He was booked for kicking Scott Parker in the stomach when attempting a close-range volley and also felt he should have had a penalty for handball when he had in fact used his own arm to control.
However, Tottenham left Anfield seemingly satisfied with a point, as while the home team were enjoying having Suarez available again the visitors were missing their absent manager.
Harry Redknapp had been due to fly to Merseyside after another day in Southwark Crown Court at his trial into charges of cheating the public revenue, which he denies, but technical problems with his aircraft meant he was left stranded in the south of England.
Redknapp’s absence was not an alien situation for Spurs as the 64-year-old missed three weeks in November after undergoing a heart procedure.
Whether the late change of plans affected his team would only be known inside their dressing room but Liverpool threatened as early as the fifth minute, only for Michael Dawson’s perfectly-judged challenge to nick the ball away from Andy Carroll inside the penalty area.