Yossi Benayoun rescued a point for Liverpool by clinching a 2-2 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday that does little to help either side's top-four ambitions. City's expensively revamped side has now drawn six straight matches in the league, while injury-hit Liverpool has won just once in 10 matches in all competitions. "You cannot be happy when you draw at home," Benitez said. "But until the last minute we were still pushing. The players worked so hard. You could see that even with a lot of problems we were winning." Martin Skrtel had put Liverpool in front five minutes into the second half, but poor defending allowed City to take the lead through Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland. City's back four, though, was just as slack and threw away its advantage by letting Benayoun level into an open net in the 77th. Now Liverpool, which only missed out on last season's title by four points, and City have a fight on their hands to secure Champions League finishes - the minimum requirement for both of them. City is sixth, a point behind fourth-place Aston Villa with a game in hand, while Liverpool is a further point adrift in seventh without the comfort of an extra match. "If we can improve and play at our top level, we will be in the top four," Benitez said. "Even though we conceded the first goal then the second, you could still see the character of the team. In the circumstances, I thought we were very good." Already without striker Fernando Torres and right back Glen Johnson due to with injury, Benitez's plans were disrupted further inside 18 minutes with both defender Daniel Agger and forward Ryan Babel forced off. Agger was concussed and required five stitches in his head after colliding with City defender Kolo Toure in a fifth-minute incident that had seen Liverpool come close to taking the lead. When Gerrard swung in a free kick from the right, Toure, under pressure from Agger, inadvertently flicked the ball to the far post where Martin Skrtel was unmarked but his header was blocked by goalkeeper Shay Given's reflex save. Liverpool lost Babel when he twisted his ankle in a clash with City midfielder Nigel de Jong. Despite briefly returning to the pitch after treatment, the Netherlands winger limped off to be replaced by Benayoun on the left flank. City failed to exploit those enforced changes, showing little adventure going forward with lone striker Emmanuel Adebayor isolated. Liverpool continued to harry the visitors after the break and it paid off inside five minutes. Gerrard whipped in a free kick and Skrtel's connection this time found the net, firing home from six meters (yards) after getting in front of Adebayor. City manager Mark Hughes beefed up his attack, replacing Barry with Carlos Tevez to partner Adebayor to make the visitors looked more menacing. "We carried a real threat in the second period when Carlos Tevez came on," Hughes said. "We had to chase the game, and Carlos gave us a real energy. We retained possession and got back from one-down to take the lead." Liverpool's exposed zonal marking system helped Adebayor equalize, with the Togo forward free in front of goal to head in Craig Bellamy's corner as Skrtel reacted too late to block him. Liverpool's defending was no better in open play as it conceded a second. Tevez slipped the ball through to Shaun Wright-Phillips, who spun around Kyrgiakos and cut the ball across for Ireland to flick past Reina. But within 72 seconds, Liverpool struck back with David Ngog's cross from the right flank deflecting for Benayoun to tap in. "We're disappointed because I think we were the better team today," Hughes said. "We were in a winning position and that's the frustration for us at the moment, allowing those winning situations to go away from us. That's the disappointing thing. Really, Liverpool had not caused us too many problems." While City has a week to recover before facing Hull next week, Liverpool is at Debrecen on Tuesday in the Champions League with its qualification in jeopardy.
