Home draw hurts Liverpool. ( January 03, 2008 )
Liverpool's Premier League title aspirations all but vanished on Wednesday with a 1-1 home draw against relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic that left them languishing 12 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Rafael Benitez's side was booed off the pitch at Anfield after Wigan defender Titus Bramble fired a late equalizer to cancel out a classy opener from Fernando Torres.

"We need to do everything nearly perfect now," Benitez told Sky Sports News when asked if his side's title challenge was over.

"When you lose points like today it's very difficult."

Liverpool has dropped out of the Premier League's top four, Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City rising above them after a 2-0 victory at troubled Newcastle United.

Brazilian Elano opened the scoring for City shortly before the interval, and not even the second-half introduction of Michael Owen could inspire the Magpies as City doubled their lead through Fernandes Gelson.

City is fourth with 39 points, one more than Liverpool, which has played one less game.

Arsenal, who beat West Ham United 2-0 on Tuesday, is on top with 50 points, two ahead of champions Manchester United.

Wigan's surprise draw lifts them out of the bottom three, where they are replaced by Sunderland, beaten 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers.

Bolton Wanderers boosted their survival chances after a last-minute 1-0 defeat of bottom club Derby County.

With Torres playing as a lone striker Liverpool huffed and puffed until the Spaniard started and finished a sweet move involving Steven Gerrard after 49 minutes for his 16th goal this season.

Liverpool had chances to wrap up the points but Gerrard's weak clearance fell straight at the feet of Bramble and the burly defender smashed the ball past Pepe Reina to leave Anfield in stunned silence.

Newcastle was also booed off at St. James' Park after a third consecutive defeat over the holiday fixtures left them marooned in mid-table and facing a tricky FA Cup tie away at second division Stoke City on Sunday.