For a moment, it felt as if we had gone back in time. Steven Gerrard was sprinting, arms outstretched, to the corner of Anfield where the Kop and Centenary stands meet, pursued by elated team-mates.
He made that celebration famous when performing a rescue act against Olympiacos in December 2004 but here he was doing the same thing again, more than 10 years later, saving Liverpool just when they needed him.
But the joy that followed goal 184 of his Liverpool career soon gave way to poignancy. In three weeks, his remarkable journey will be over and only now is reality starting to dawn of exactly what the club will miss when he goes to the United States.
Plenty of players would have gone under after seeing a penalty saved in the way he did by Robert Green but Gerrard simply went through the gears and rose inexorably in the 87th minute to give Liverpool a win that keeps their faint hopes of a top-four finish alive.
‘If that is my last goal at Anfield then I will take it but I won’t give up,’ said Gerrard.
Who will do that next season when he is no longer there? It is a question that Brendan Rodgers knows will not be easily answered. ‘It’s a small bracket of players who have that feeling of never being beaten,’ he said. ‘I have seen it so many times. Players miss penalties at all levels and normally they end up getting substituted because it affects him. With Steven it works the other way. It actually inspires him.’
Defeat leaves QPR on the brink and they will be condemned to the Championship if they lose at Manchester City next week. They finished with 10 men after Nedum Onuoha was sent off but their spirit could not be questioned, particularly when Leroy Fer equalised after Philippe Coutinho’s opener.
SUPER STAT: There has never been a goalless draw in the 51 meetings between these clubs.
LIVERPOOL (4-1-4-1) Mignolet 7; Can 6.5, Skrtel 7, Lovren 6.5, Johnson 6.5 (Markovic 84mins); Gerrard 8.5 (Lucas 89); Sterling 6.5, Henderson 7, Coutinho 7.5, Lallana 6 (Ibe 68, 6.5); Lambert 7. Subs not used: Ward, Toure, Allen, Moreno.
Booked: Gerrard, Lovren.
Scorers: Coutinho 19, Gerrard 87.
QUEENS PARK RANGERS (4-1-4-1): Green 8; Onuoha 5, Dunne 6.5, Caulker 5.5 (Yun 46, 6), Hill 6; Barton 6; Henry 6 (Zamora 71, 6), Sandro 6, Fer 6.5, Phillips 7; Austin 6. Subs not used: McCarthy, Wright-Phillips, Kranjcar, Hoillet, Grego-Cox.
Booked: Sandro, Onuoha, Dunne.
Sent off: Onuoha. Scorer: Fer 73.
Man of the match: Steven Gerrard. – Daily Mail