Birmingham City dropped two vital points as they allowed Liverpool to come back from two goals down to hold them to a 2-2 draw in their Premiership encounter last weekend.

Birmingham looked on course for a vital win as they raced to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Mikael Forssell and Sebastian Larsson in either half but Liverpool staged a late come back with Peter Crouch reducing the deficit three minutes past the hour mark before Yossi Benayoun equalized 14 minutes from the final whistle.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez rested nine players who played in the Champions League semi final in the midweek and the visitors looked out of sorts though Birmingham failed to take advantage of their dominance in possession in the early minutes of the game.

However the hosts settled down and took the lead in the 34th minute when Forssell latched on to a cross by James McFadden before smashing it past Pepe Reina. Liverpool tried to reply as Crouch almost grabbed the equalizer but Maik Taylor was equal to the challenge.

Birmingham looked set for collecting all three points from the game when they doubled the lead in the 55th minute through a curling free kick by Larsson. However Liverpool soon managed to breach the City defense in the 63rd minute when Crouch was played in by Jermaine Pennant and the striker side footed the cross into the net.

Liverpool were back on level terms in the 76th minute when Benayoun's header deflected off Jaidi and into the net. Birmingham pressed forward in search of the lead but Liverpool hung on to claim a point that all but confirms their participation in the Champions League next season.