Wanderers 2, LIVERPOOL 2: A New Year dawns but it's the same old story.

Wanderers knock one of the so-called "big boys" out of their stride and what do they get for their efforts?

Slated by the style critics and publicly pilloried by rival managers, who just can't stand having their feathers ruffled.

The insults came thick and fast at the Reebok with Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, leading the chorus, while, three floors higher in the press box, BBC Radio 5 Live's Alan Green - an Anfield regular - was letting his listeners know that, if he was not in such a privileged position, he would not pay to watch Sam Allardyce's "ugly" team.

Wanderers have heard it all before, of course. But they were beginning to think that, by sustaining a position in and around the top six of the Premiership, they were earning respect for, as some of their previous detractors have acknowledged, being good at what they do.

But it would appear they were being lulled into a false sense of belonging, because Benitez clearly does not believe they are to be respected.

Reviled, maybe.

To paraphrase the Spaniard, who led Liverpool to Champions League glory last season, one team was trying to play football at the Reebok - and it was not Bolton Wanderers.

He could not seem to understand why his players were penalised, and in some cases booked, for dealing with the irrepressible El-Hadji Diouf, while Wanderers' defenders went unpunished for keeping his 6ft 7ins striker, Peter Crouch, out of harm's way.

In fairness, he has not encountered such stubborn resistance for a while with Liverpool reeling off 10 successive Premiership victories. One more and they would have matched a 23-year-old club record.

But did he really expect an easy ride at the Reebok, where Wanderers were unbeaten in their previous 12 games and had conceded only two goals in the Premiership this season?

If he did, he got a rude awakening after just 10 minutes, when, from a Stelios free kick, Radhi Jaidi pounced on a mix-up between Jose Reina and Sami Hyypia to head Wanderers in front. And, for all the talent at his disposal, he was staring defeat in the face when Diouf - the striker he rejected when he arrived at Anfield two summers ago - ended a Kevin Nolan-Kevin Davies inspired counter-attack to make it 2-1 with just 19 minutes on the clock.

In all seriousness, there appeared to be only one winner after Steven Gerrard had restored parity four minutes earlier, picking himself up, after being taken out by Joey O'Brien's reckless challenge, to beat Jussi Jaaskelainen from the penalty spot.

But Wanderers, with Jaidi and Bruno N'Gotty nullifying the Crouch threat, had the character to bounce back and might have hung on for all three points had Luis Garcia not produced a bit of magic to get the better of Ricardo Gardner to salvage a draw in the 82nd minute.

Allardyce responded to Benitez's gripes by suggesting referee Mark Clattenburg missed a clear penalty claim when Jamie Carragher brought down Nolan, and cited Gerrard and Momo Sissoko for stamping on Nolan and Diouf respectively. But he was satisfied with a point against such an accomplished, in-form side.

Unlike the Anfield manager, he was under no illusions. Hammered at Old Trafford on Saturday, he was just pleased to see his players respond with such a passionate performance in an incident-packed game that, with Gerrard driving Liverpool so impressively, they could easily have lost, yet might have won.

In the end, the Wanderers' boss erred on the side of caution, withdrawing Diouf, his tormentor-in-chief, and employing an extra defender, Tal Ben Haim.

"I just wanted to protect what we'd got," he said, unashamedly, "and make sure we didn't slip up and come off the field without anything, after doing so much.

"I'm a bit disappointed we didn't win, because we were in front twice, but not too disappointed, because, certainly in the second half, Liverpool showed us why they'd won 10 games on the trot, and we found it difficult to cope.

"Overall it was a fantastic result and a fantastic performance by a team that has taken Liverpool right to the wire a team that, pound for pound, man for man, shouldn't have had a chance."

Are the critics ever likely to acknowledge that? Don't hold your breath.