David Ngog's Monday Night Show

Monday night was all about Liverpool's young French striker David Ngog; firstly he opens the scoring and settles early Anfield nerves with a lovely volley into the roof of the net from the edge of the six yard box.

After this Ngog showed why he is an understudy that will force himself onto the pitch more and more often from this point on. Voronin and Babel look to have been pushed down the pecking order by a leggy Frenchman who reminds me of a young Thierry Henry, especially when he pulls off the left wing.

Four goals for the season is a great return from four starts and five substitute appearances and 3 league goals means that only Gerrard (4) and Torres (10) have more in the league. The term 'understudy' seems overstated.

But then came the penalty. As Rafa Benitez put it, maybe it wasn't a penalty and he's right. Ngog drove to the byline from 30 yards out, beating two players on the way and forcing Lee Carsley to make a desperate covering challenge. And although Carsley missed the ball and player, Ngog threw his arms up and arched his back as he dove over Carsley. The great bit of skill to get into such a dangerous place is forgotten as soon as the dive is obvious.

If Ngog had continued his run there is a 50/50 chance that he would have made contact with Carsley anyway, and if he hadn't and it had interrupted his stride pattern then the referee may still have given it - along the lines of Steven Gerrard's penalty at Bramall Lane from a few seasons ago. But he didn't. Like Eduardo earlier in the season Ngog will have to carry this incident with him for a week or two until the next similar incident.

Ngog looks a real find and at £1.5m something of a bargain to boot. With Fernando Torres likely to miss the next three games to rest his hernia, Ngog may now get a little run in the team. But you can be sure that opposition fans will make the referee think hard before awarding him a penalty next time.