The ball was fed into Torres midway inside the Everton half and after holding off two defenders he expertly back heeled a pass into the skipper's path, and he raced through to steer a low effort beyond Howard at his near post.
The initiative was now with the home side and the inspirational number eight was nearly celebrating again just three minutes later, but the Blues stopper made a magnificent save to keep him out after Torres had chested the ball into his path.
It was one-way traffic at this point and as the clock ticked down Everton became more and more desperate in their bid to force a replay.
Dirk Kuyt went close to winning it but saw his low shot beaten away by Howard before Torres' goalbound strike from Gerrard's cut back was somehow deflected to safety by a Blues defender.
With just minutes left Liverpool continued to push, but they could not fashion a second goal and must now secure their second Goodison Park win of the season, if they are to maintain their hopes of
Pienaar's searching delivery from the left found Cahill unmarked at the far post and when he headed towards goal, Lescott was on hand to nod it into the net from underneath Pepe Reina's nose.
The Reds stopper - whose last appearance in the FA Cup came in the final itself against West Ham in Cardiff in 2006 - had been little more than a spectator prior to the goal, and he had little to do in the remainder of the match as Everton sat back, desperately hoping to defend their lead.
As expected, the Reds pushed for an equaliser but struggled to get in behind the Toffees' rearguard, with Javier Mascherano's deflected strike from distance the closest they came prior to the interval.
However, as they attacked the Kop end, Liverpool stepped it up a gear in the second 45 and after initially going close with an unorthodox overhead effort, Gerrard pulled the hosts level on 54 minutes.
The visitors had barely recovered when Fernando Torres sent a devilish ball in from the right, but Babel could not react in time to turn an effort goalwards.There was much more purpose to Liverpool's play than in the early stages of the league encounter and on 12 minutes Gerrard found Jamie Carragher just inside the visitors' penalty area. The defender dragged the ball away from his marker with a sublime piece of skill before fizzing a shot into the side netting.It was an outrageous piece of play by the vice-captain and proved to be the highlight of the Red's early dominance.
On the eve of the contest Everton had suffered the blow of losing creative midfielder Mikel Arteta through injury and they rarely looked capable of opening up the home side in open play.
However, they were always threatening from set pieces and despite enduring a barrage of attacks, they broke forward to open the scoring from their first corner of the match on 27 minutes.
The inspirational midfielder netted his second Merseyside derby goal within a week to cancel out Joleon Lescott's 27th minute header and secure a replay at Goodison Park.
It was the least Liverpool deserved after dominating throughout the contest, and the Skipper's 15th goal of the season means we will now face yet another meeting with the Blues to decide which side will book a fifth round tie at home to Aston Villa or Doncaster Rovers.
Heading into the 210th Merseyside derby Rafael Benitez made four changes to the team that had drawn 1-1 in the first match of the double header with David Moyes' side on Monday night.
The inclusion of Ryan Babel and attack-minded full-backs Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena was a sign of Liverpool's intent, and further evidence of the Reds' desire came after just 20 seconds when Xabi Alonso sent a drilled effort just wide of Tim Howard's far post from 25 yards.
"I don't think it was a very good game in terms of the football that was played, but both teams put all of their effort into it.
"Of course, we are really disappointed because after taking the lead we expected to go on and win the game.
"We know that they have been scoring a lot of goals from set pieces and the fact that they were able to do so again so late in the game meant that we lost two points.
"But now the game is done we have to forget about it and look forward.
"There is nothing we can do to change it now so all we can do is focus on our next game which is again against Everton.
"That will give us the opportunity to show more than we did last night and hopefully we will go through to the next round of the cup.
"But we have to learn from our mistakes – that is always important, especially when you have conceded a late goal.
"It is always difficult to defend those kind of free-kicks, particularly when the opposition has a very good taker and good headers of the b
If it wasn't for one man, Liverpool Football Club would never have been born. When Everton left Anfield in a dispute over rent in 1892, club chairman John Houlding stayed behind along with a handful of supporters and just three first-team players. But he was determined to see football continue at the ground. He formed a new club from scratch, chose the name Liverpool… and created a legend.
Even John Houlding couldn't have predicted how successful it would become. More than 100 years on, no English club can match the LiverpoolFC roll of honour; League Champions 18 times, FA Cup winners seven times, League Cup winners seven times, European Cup winners five times and UEFA Cup winners three times.
When it is completed, the History channel will chart the rise and rise of Liverpool FC to the very summit of the England game, from the struggles of the early years right up to Gerard Houllier's historic treble in 2001. This channel will recall glorious domestic victories and European triumphs and reflect on the tragedies of Heysel and Hillsborough.
We've focused on 10 key dates in Liverpool Football Club's history to begin with but over time, we'll have over 100 chapters in this section alone as we present the ultimate history of England's greatest ever football club. This is a story of incredible passion and pride - a story that not only inspires Liverpool fans but football supporters the world over.
Who I Want to Meet:
When the Football League was founded in 1888, Anfield was one of League's original grounds. On September 8th 1888 the very first Saturday of League football, Anfield welcomed as visitors Accrington to play not against the 'Reds', but the 'Blues' of Everton Football Club.
The blue and white quartered shirts of Everton FC made quite a name for themselves at Anfield winning the League Championship in 1891, but this is to run ahead slightly. Both teams owe their existence to a Reverend Chambers of the then newly constructed and now, totally demolished, church - St Domingo, and to John Houlding - Tory MP and Mayor of Liverpool who ultimately caused Everton FC to leave Anfield and who created Liverpool Football Club.
St Domingo's football team was a strictly amateur affair created amid the belief that young lads could better be kept on the path of religious well-being through a healthy passion for competitive team games. After only a year or so of enthusiastic play in Stanley Park, they renamed themselves Everton Football Club in honour of the location of their founding church.
The St Domingo's team met however not at Church, but the Queen's Head Hotel in Village Street adjacent to "Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House". From this Everton F.C. gained their curious nickname of "The Toffees". In adopting the name Everton, the team ensured that they would permanently struggle to be located with confidence by those from outside of the city and lead to Royalty asking "Tell me, from which part of the country is the city of Everton?" nearly a century later.
The fledgling Everton played in a number of locations but settled in a greenfield site between Anfield Road and Walton Breck Road. So was born one of the great names in world football - Anfield. The team prospered and became financially sound with astute guidance from their President Mr John Houlding. John Houlding was a brewer, local council member and later Mayor of Liverpool.
Despite this he has become a largely forgotten figure in the city, although a bronze plaque outside the Directors' Lounge in Anfield and a fine oil portrait hanging within the Club museum preserve his likeness.
For a man responsible for the development of Everton and the creation of Liverpool Football Club, it is amazing how little he is remembered. There are however a few landmarks in the area where Houlding was known as "King John of Everton". The very short 'Houlding Street' has on it's corner the 'Sandon' pub. This pub was once owned by Houlding and he led many meetings of Everton Football Club from here in the bowls pavilion that existed to the rear. The place was also used as a dressing room by the players for many years. Both Everton and later Liverpool football teams were first photographed in front of this bowls pavilion.
It can be questioned whether Everton would have been one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888 without Houlding's assistance. He brought Everton to Anfield in 1884. They previously rented a little field in Priory Road, north of Stanley Park, but they were unwelcome because of the noisy crowds on match days.
So Houlding went to his friend and fellow brewer, Mr. Orrell, who owned a place in Anfield Road and conducted the business to get a new home ground. But it was from this point on that criticism of the club President started to grow from some members of the Everton board, building up to a crisis in 1892.
It was not the rent alone that annoyed the board members. Houlding also wanted only his sparkling ales to be sold at the ground, and he of course profited very considerably from this arrangement. However it was still John Houlding that helped the club out when they need money to buy players and rebuild the ground.
The Sandon's use as dressing room was an arrangement that really only suited Houlding as he again benefited from his players drinking his products. A letter in the Liverpool Echo in January 1892 suggested that Houlding didn't want the club to move out of the pub.
The writer says: "It's a disgrace that at a big club such as Everton, players have to walk through hordes of people on match days."
The conflict on how the club should be managed and conduct its business came to a to a head in 1889-90. The rent at Anfield went up again. Everton FC paid £100 in 1884. By 1889-90 Houlding was charging them £250. Houlding had many practical and realistic solutions on how they could solve this situation. One was to transform Everton into a plc. On the 15th of September 1891 he chaired a meeting about the issue.
The initiative was now with the home side and the inspirational number eight was nearly celebrating again just three minutes later, but the Blues stopper made a magnificent save to keep him out after Torres had chested the ball into his path.
It was one-way traffic at this point and as the clock ticked down Everton became more and more desperate in their bid to force a replay.
Dirk Kuyt went close to winning it but saw his low shot beaten away by Howard before Torres' goalbound strike from Gerrard's cut back was somehow deflected to safety by a Blues defender.
With just minutes left Liverpool continued to push, but they could not fashion a second goal and must now secure their second Goodison Park win of the season, if they are to maintain their hopes of
The Reds stopper - whose last appearance in the FA Cup came in the final itself against West Ham in Cardiff in 2006 - had been little more than a spectator prior to the goal, and he had little to do in the remainder of the match as Everton sat back, desperately hoping to defend their lead.
As expected, the Reds pushed for an equaliser but struggled to get in behind the Toffees' rearguard, with Javier Mascherano's deflected strike from distance the closest they came prior to the interval.
However, as they attacked the Kop end, Liverpool stepped it up a gear in the second 45 and after initially going close with an unorthodox overhead effort, Gerrard pulled the hosts level on 54 minutes.
On the eve of the contest Everton had suffered the blow of losing creative midfielder Mikel Arteta through injury and they rarely looked capable of opening up the home side in open play.
However, they were always threatening from set pieces and despite enduring a barrage of attacks, they broke forward to open the scoring from their first corner of the match on 27 minutes.
It was the least Liverpool deserved after dominating throughout the contest, and the Skipper's 15th goal of the season means we will now face yet another meeting with the Blues to decide which side will book a fifth round tie at home to Aston Villa or Doncaster Rovers.
Heading into the 210th Merseyside derby Rafael Benitez made four changes to the team that had drawn 1-1 in the first match of the double header with David Moyes' side on Monday night.
The inclusion of Ryan Babel and attack-minded full-backs Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena was a sign of Liverpool's intent, and further evidence of the Reds' desire came after just 20 seconds when Xabi Alonso sent a drilled effort just wide of Tim Howard's far post from 25 yards.
"Of course, we are really disappointed because after taking the lead we expected to go on and win the game.
"We know that they have been scoring a lot of goals from set pieces and the fact that they were able to do so again so late in the game meant that we lost two points.
"But now the game is done we have to forget about it and look forward.
"There is nothing we can do to change it now so all we can do is focus on our next game which is again against Everton.
"That will give us the opportunity to show more than we did last night and hopefully we will go through to the next round of the cup.
"But we have to learn from our mistakes – that is always important, especially when you have conceded a late goal.
"It is always difficult to defend those kind of free-kicks, particularly when the opposition has a very good taker and good headers of the b