It did not work. Sunderland were the better side, but the only goal came after just five minutes and was scored in front of the fans who had travelled from Merseyside.
As passionate as ever in their support for their team, it was one of their own who, rather unfairly, took the blame for the goal when referee Mike Jones’s interpretation of the rules was actually responsible.
It was the then 16-year-old Callum Campbell who confessed he was responsible for throwing a beach ball on to the pitch. Five minutes later, he was being blamed for gifting Sunderland the lead.
Bent’s shot from the edge of the area was not the best he had struck, but having failed to remove the beach ball from the pitch, Liverpool were furious when Bent’s effort hit the inflatable; the game ball bamboozled goalkeeper Pepe Reina as it lifted off the ground and changed direction before flying into the net.
“We battered Liverpool that day and should have beaten them by four or five,” said Bent. “I hit the post and the bar, we had efforts cleared off the line. We won 1-0, and all anyone ever talks about is the beach-ball goal. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it.
“It was only after the game when people were talking about what a bizarre goal it was, and it shouldn’t have counted, that I really realised what had happened and I started to think it was a bit odd.
“I didn’t really know the ball had hit the beach ball. All I do remember is seeing Pepe Reina looking one way and the ball going in over his other shoulder. Of course I am [claiming it] though. Maybe we’ll call it 105½ Premier League goals.”
Bent cannot be blamed for that, but referee Jones should not have allowed it to stand, something Sunderland manager Steve Bruce admitted after the game.
Darren Bent shoots towards the errant beach-ball at the Stadium of Light
“It’s quite incredible really,” he said. “We couldn’t see what had happened from where we were, I thought the referee and linesman got together to discuss whether it was offside. I didn’t realise it had hit the beach ball until afterwards and I didn’t know the rules which said it should have been a drop ball, rather than a goal. One went for us, that’s for sure.
“We went on to win the game, and in my opinion we deserved to win the game.
“I can forgive the referee because if you know that rule, you really are a little bit sad. I didn’t know that rule that if the ball hits an object it’s a drop ball, I thought if a ball hit an object on the pitch it was sod’s law and you got on with it.”
BenÃtez did not look to hide behind a wrong decision. “We had a bit of bad luck with the goal, but I’m more disappointed with the performance. We had plenty of time to get back into the game, but we couldn’t react,” he said.
Despite the Spaniard’s philosophical view of a bizarre situation, the 16-year-old who threw the beach ball on to the pitch suffered a torrid time.
“It was me,” he confessed in an interview with the Daily Mirror. “I’m the one who did it. I’m the one caught on camera. I’m so, so sorry. This is my worst, worst nightmare.
“When I got home I went into the garden and threw up. I was physically sick – and that’s before the death threats started appearing on the internet the next day.”
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