IT was billed as the great grudge match between bitter rivals Graeme Souness and Phil Thompson.

But the main event was ultimately upstaged by a bout simmering away on the undercard -- a battle between England's golden boy and an England wannabe!

If Rovers striker Matt Jansen could have one wish this Christmas, it would be for an opportunity to showcase his sublime skills on the international stage ahead of next summer's World Cup.

And he did his hopes of a call-up no harm at all by capping another impressive performance with a typically opportunist strike against one of the best teams in England.

But if the Ewood hot-shot ever needed a reminder of exactly what he's up against then he got here in the shape of Michael Owen.

By his own standards, Liverpool's pocket-genius had a fairly quiet afternoon.

But when Steven Gerrard suddenly floated over an aimless-looking cross in the 30th minute of a tepid first half, the 21-year-old provided a glimpse of just why he's recognised as the best in the business with a gravity-defying header which nestled in Brad Friedel's bottom corner.

"There's no doubt about it, Michael Owen is the top man in this country and that's what you've got to try and aspire to yourself," oozed Jansen.

"The way he got above Henning and got so much power on his header -- even though it was behind him -- was frightening.

"So all credit to him for that, it was a wonderful finish."

Owen's piece of opportunism was worthy of winning any game but the fact it didn't was entirely due to Jansen.

By his own admission, the 24-year-old has found life tough adapting to the demands of the Premiership after setting the first division alight last season with 23 goals in Rovers' march to promotion.

So when he guided home what was only his fourth goal of the season, his emotions were a mixture of relief and euphoria as the clock ticks on his dreams of a trip to Japan.

"The goals haven't been going in as much as I'd like this season but, if I can keep playing well, then maybe they'll start to flow and you never know," mused the Rovers frontman.

"At the end of the day, I'm only 24 so I'm still young enough, I've just got to keep believing in myself.

"This is only really my first full season in the Premiership and it can be difficult at times.

"Today, for instance, we played with just one up front and it's difficult trying to occupy two defenders of the quality of Stefan Henchoz and Sami Hyypia.

"But you've just got to try and work hard and if you get the chance then you've got to try and put it away.

"That's what I've been trying to do all season and, thankfully, it paid off here."

Given the history which exists between Souness and Thompson, an expectant crowd had poured into Ewood anticipating fireworks.

But the game itself never lived up to the hype as both sides adopted cagey approaches.

Souness sensibly chose the safety first option, deciding upon a 4-5-1 formation in a bid to counter Liverpool's threat on the break.

And, although it did little for the game as a spectacle, the Ewood chief made no apologies afterwards for adopting such a cautious approach.

"We got the tactics right and with a fitter Damien Duff we would have beaten them," he said.

"The way Liverpool play, they try to lure you out and then catch you out with genuine pace.

"So we weren't going to step out and play naive, attacking football.

"It might not have been a great game to watch as a result, but we had a play with the tactics and got a result."

In terms of goal-mouth incident, the opening half hour was a major non-event.

Rovers -- perhaps guilty of showing the visitors too much respect at times -- concentrated on getting bodies behind the ball.

And when they broke themselves, they struggled to get numbers forward quickly enough to support Jansen up front.

As a result, it was the 29th minute before they finally registered their first shot.

The industrious Keith Gillespie slipped a clever ball into Jansen on the edge of the box and the Rovers striker pirouetted before unleashing a low left-footer which forced a smart save out of Jerzy Dudek.

Barely 60 seconds later, however, and it was Liverpool who were celebrating after that man Owen conjured a goal out of nothing.

There appeared to be little danger when Gerrard whipped over a raking cross from the right but the England man timed his leap to perfection, soaring above Henning Berg to direct a majestic header into the bottom corner.

Clearly stunned, Rovers took time to recover and the closest they came to an equaliser before the break was a 20 yarder from David Dunn which drew another fine save from Dudek.

Thankfully, however, they emerged for the second half a totallly different side thanks to a half time reshuffle which saw Duff pushed upfront and Dunn switched to the left.

Suddenly, there was far more purpose going forward as Jansen fired an early warning with a fizzing drive which singed the fingertips of Dudek.

And, from the resulting corner, the former England Under 21 international then bagged the equaliser.

Duff's flag-kick was only half cleared to Tugay out on the left and his attempted shot struck Gillespie before landing at Jansen, who calmly took aim before squeezing a low shot inside the right hand post.

That forced both sides to come out of their shells in a frenzied last half hour.

Robbie Fowler -- who was largely anonymous all afternoon -- saw an attempted lob brilliantly saved by Friedel.

And both sides then had penalty appeals turned down as first Jansen went tumbling under a challenge from Hyypia then John Curtis breathed a sigh of relief after chopping down Fowler.

Deep into injury time, Liverpool sub Danny Murphy then passed up the clearest opening of the lot as a Gerrard through-ball left him one-on-one but his looping shot drifted inches wide of the upright.

Had that gone in it would have been rough justice indeed on a Rovers side who were well worth a point.

ROVERS 1... (Jansen 52)

LIVERPOOL 1...(Owen 30)