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Liverpool dropped two more points at the home that was once their fortress in a goalless draw that never rose above the mundane. They remain unbeaten at Anfield in the Premier League, but have won four games out of 11.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon was Kenny Dalglish’s line-up. It was hardly a shock that Andy Carroll was relegated to the bench after his recent ineffectiveness, but wholesale changes meant Jamie Carragher was recalled in a back three, between Martin Skrtel and the Uruguayan Sebastián Coates, who was making his second appearance of the season in the league. Craig Bellamy was also dropped, leaving Dirk Kuyt, who has not scored in the Premier League all season, shouldering the attacking burden.

Unusually subdued, the Anfield crowd were probably still taking it all in when Matthew Etherington burst through the middle and warmed Pepe Reina’s hands from 18 yards. When Liverpool eventually showed signs of asserting themselves, Ryan Shawcross made a last-ditch intervention to shut out Glen Johnson, Stewart Downing fired over from 20 yards and Jordan Henderson’s shot from similar range brought an uncomplicated save from Thomas Sorensen.

For all that, however, the first half was disappointing fare, Liverpool’s passing relentlessly shoddy and their attack lacking a focal point. Much too often they resorted to the hit-and-hope long ball. Early in the second half, when Kuyt dithered and was dispossessed, the Kop finally lost patience and bellowed its collective disapproval.

Carroll was introduced in the hope that his height might inconvenience Stoke’s defenders, but aerial combat has long been their speciality. Liverpool appealed, in vain, for a penalty when Jonathan Woodgate collided with Kuyt.It was a close call, but it ought not to have mattered.

They should have had one goal that was always going to be decisive after 77 minutes, but Kuyt headed wide of the far post from six yards after José Enrique’s cross from the left had reached him via Woodgate’s involuntary deflection.

With five minutes left they were close again when Skrtel bounced a header over the crossbar from the substitute Bellamy’s corner, but it was not to be.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolStoke CityPremier LeagueJoe Lovejoyguardian.co.uk

Rafael Benítez’s exasperation at Liverpool’s treatment by the authorities was fuelled by the actions of a certain Mr Ferguson

Kenny Dalglish’s outburst on Thursday was reminiscent of Rafael Benítez’s rant about Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009. Here is a brief reminder

“I want to talk about facts. I want to be clear, I do not want to play mind games too early, although they [Manchester United] seem to want to start. But I have seen some facts.”

“During the Respect campaign – and this is a fact – Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things.”

“At Christmas United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.”

“And about his behaviour with referees. The Southampton manager, he knows how Mr Ferguson works and how he works, he was very clear. I am not playing mind games, just facts.”

“All managers need to know is that only Mr Ferguson can talk about the fixtures, can talk about referees and nothing happens. We need to know that I am talking about facts, not my impression. There are things that everyone can see every single week.”

“I am not telling the authorities what to do. But I have been here for five years and know how things are going on. I will be watching United’s game with Chelsea. The result does not matter to us, if we win at Stoke that result does not matter.”

“We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett. But he is not punished. How can you talk about the respect campaign and criticise the referee every single week? You can analyse the facts and come to your own decision and ideas.”

Kenny DalglishLiverpoolSir Alex FergusonManchester UnitedPremier LeagueThe FAGregg Roughleyguardian.co.uk

• Palace beat Manchester United to reach semi-finals
• Steve Parish hails spectacular goal by Darren Ambrose

The Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is dreaming of a “fairytale” Carling Cup final against Liverpool after his side’s shock quarter-final win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The victory means Palace face a two-legged semi-final against Championship rivals Cardiff, and the possibility of a final appearance at Wembley against Liverpool or Manchester City.

Palace were beaten by Liverpool in the semi-finals of the competition in 1995 and 2001, but famously overcame Kenny Dalglish’s side 4-3 to claim a place in the 1990 FA Cup final. Parish said another meeting would be great reward for the club after their battles with administration and relegation in recent years.

Parish told Talksport: “I am sure Cardiff were hoping for us [in the draw]. They’ll feel they have got a chance, and we were hoping for them. We could probably make more money out of Manchester City or Liverpool but we have only been in one Wembley final in our history. It would be absolutely amazing for us to get there.

“No disrespect to City but I have got a soft spot for Liverpool. Kenny was manager when we beat them 4-3. You never know, this would be a dream, a fairytale after everything we have been through, to get there. But we have got a tough couple of league games in front of us and Cardiff will feel they can do the same.”

A consortium headed by Parish and Martin Long bought Palace out of administration in the summer of 2010. The club had also narrowly avoided relegation the previous season and were again close to the drop last term.

But Parish feels they have now turned the corner under the manager Dougie Freedman, who has made the team hard to beat and shown faith in youngsters such as the impressive Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Clyne and Sean Scannell.

Parish said: “Dougie is doing a great job. He is giving the youngsters a chance and he is coaching them well, schooling them and making them better. We have made some buys but we want to rely on some of our youth. We want a blend of experience and youth to see what we can achieve and push on.”

Glenn Murray headed Palace’s winner in the 98th minute at Old Trafford after a Federico Macheda penalty had cancelled out a wonderful goal from Darren Ambrose to force extra time. Ambrose’s sensational 35-yard effort just after the hour ended a 550-minute goal drought for the London club.

Parish said: “It defied the laws of physics that shot, it was very good. Gary Neville was saying it was the best goal he has seen from an away side, which is a massive compliment.”

Palace make a quick return to action as they host Derby in the Championship on Friday, but the club are not complaining.

Parish said: “To be fair to the league and everybody, that was already organised as a TV game. We benefited from the TV revenue so we are not going to complain. We wouldn’t have complained if we’d lost, we were party to that decision.

“Dougie and the guys knew what they were going to have to do. We are not going to use it as an excuse. Let’s just hope we can carry the form into the league game on Friday.”

The Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, meanwhile, said their squad had to move on quickly from the shock defeat.

“We’re very disappointed not to be in the semi-finals,” he told MUTV. “I thought we would go on after we scored, and going into the first period of extra time, playing towards the Stretford End, I thought we’d have a chance of getting a goal and seal it from there.

“But they went down the other end and scored against the run of play really. We had a lot of possession but we couldn’t break them down.

“A lot of our play was in front of them and I think the only way we were going to get in was down the side, but we didn’t manage to do that as well as Manchester United can. We didn’t get a lot of crosses into the box. The games are coming thick and fast and the manager will need his squad. So we need to pick ourselves up and hopefully win on Saturday.”

Crystal PalaceLiverpoolManchester UnitedCarling Cup 2011-12Carling Cupguardian.co.uk