Reds in action as England draw
Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Jordan Henderson were in action on Monday night as England drew 1-1 with France in their Euro 2012 opener.
Skipper Gerrard and full-back Johnson both started the game in Donetsk while Henderson joined Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing on the bench.
James Milner had the first real chance of the game when he rounded Hugo Lloris but couldn't apply the finish. Joe Hart was then called into action to save from Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye.
On 29 minutes Gerrard fired a perfectly-weighted free-kick into the French six-yard box for Joleon Lescott to power home for 1-0.
Former Liverpool man Alou Diarra thought he'd equalised for the French five minutes later when he sent a ferocious header at goal but Hart was alert to push his shot clear.
However, it took France just four more minutes to level proceedings at the Donbass Arena. After crisp passing around the edge of the England penalty area, Samir Nasri expertly rifled the ball into the bottom corner of Hart's goal for 1-1.
Mid-way through the second half, Johnson found space for himself stepping inside from the right wing but was unable to keep his shot down as he smashed an effort over Lloris's crossbar. The defender was alert on 73 minutes to track the run of Karim Benzema and make an interception just as the Frenchman shaped to shoot.
Henderson took to the field as a 77th minute substitute in place of Scott Parker and at the final whistle the points were shared.
"It's great to get off the mark points-wise but now we have to follow that up in the next two games," said Gerrard after the game. "We need to analyse what we did wrong and what we did right. All in all we're happy with what we did tonight."