Liverpool Dismantle Manchester United at Old Trafford

Lost · 03-14-2009, 11:56 AM

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Liverpool have stayed alive in the Barclays Premier League title race with a comprehensive 4-1 win over rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.

First half goals from Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard and two delightful second-half strikes gave Liverpool their seventeenth win of the season, after Cristiano Ronaldo had given United the lead.

Liverpool now sit just four points behind United on the Premier League ladder, but United have a game in hand.

United opened the scoring early when Portugese international Ronaldo converted from the penalty spot after just 23 minutes.

A brilliant through ball from Carlos Tevez put Park Jee-Son into space in the area, but the Korean international's progress was halted by a rash challenge from Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Referee Alan Wiley had no hestitation in pointing to the spot and Ronaldo thumped the ball past a desperate dive from Reina.

The goal sent Old Trafford into raptures, but they were silenced just five minutes later when Torres scored the equaliser. United defender Nemanja Vidic was unable to deal with an innocuous long ball and the Spanish striker became the first Liverpool player to score at Old Trafford for five years, as he cooly slipped the ball past Edwin van der Sar in the United goal.

The match continued at breakneck speed, with both Jamie Carragher and Rio Ferdinand cautioned by referee Wiley for clumsly challenges.

And yet another mistimed tackle saw Liverpool awarded a penalty on 43 minutes. A beatiful pass from Torres put Gerrard through, but he was brought down from behind by Patrice Evra and the referee once again had no choice but to award a spot kick.

Gerrard dusted himself off and converted to give Liverpool an unlikely half-time lead.

The early stages of the second half was all United, with Carlos Tevez missing several good chances and Reina continuing his nervy afternoon in front of goal.

Sensing his side needed a lift, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson called on the heavy artillery, bringing on Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov after 73 minutes.

But Sir Alex could only watch as Vidic continued his miserable afternoon when he was given a straight red card for a poor challenge on Gerrard. Referee Wiley adjudged Vidic to be the last man and sent the Serbian international off.

Things then went from bad to worse for the home fans, when Fabio Aurelio's delightful left-foot strike from the resulting free-kick put the Reds 3-1 in front, with van der Sar merely a spectator.
The Reds then continued the misery when Andrea Dossena got on the end of a long Reina past and calmly lobbed the ball over the advancing van der Sar.

The win has not only boosted Liverpool's title aspiration, but also given them highly sought-after bragging rights over their famous rivals, having beaten United at Anfield earlier in the season.

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Completely shocked, I missed the game because of a storm interrupting my cable satallite. At first I would of thought it would be a very close game, but 4 - 1. Is this it for Sir Alex Fergusons men? This season is far from over.

James Deuce · 03-14-2009, 12:03 PM

I really hope Liverpool win the league just to spite Manchester United. They will have to really work hard and keep winning games now. This result is great, but there is much more to be done.

King Steventon · 03-14-2009, 12:05 PM

I started off wanting Man U to win, but seeing Liverpool destroy them in such a fashion was just glorious.

CGS · 03-14-2009, 12:19 PM

Beautiful Scoreline. Beautiful football & Overall just a Beautiful Team Effort from Liverpool. We Played Very Well Today. But at the same time we had a lot of help from Vidic.

PeaceSells · 03-14-2009, 01:23 PM

I didn't see the match as I was playing a rugby match, but man that is an awful result. Were United just really poor, or Liverpool really good?

Vidic had a shocker seemingly?

I look forward to a Dmac/Tommy war of words in here.

Oh, and I still can't see United not winning the title. I thought Liverpool would find a good run of form again, with the return of Gerrard and Torres (albeit; not this good), but I can't see it lasting too long. United should still hold firm at the top.

CGS · 03-14-2009, 01:36 PM

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Originally Posted by PeaceSells
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I didn't see the match as I was playing a rugby match, but man that is an awful result. Were United just really poor, or Liverpool really good?

Vidic had a shocker seemingly?

I look forward to a Dmac/Tommy war of words in here.

Oh, and I still can't see United not winning the title. I thought Liverpool would find a good run of form again, with the return of Gerrard and Torres (albeit; not this good), but I can't see it lasting too long. United should still hold firm at the top.

It Was a bit of Both really. Torres, Gerrard, Carragher, Aurelio, Reina etc... All played Very Well But at the same time Ronaldo, Rooney, Evra, Rio, Van Der Sar Etc... All played really Poor & Contributed very Little to the game.

Vidic Pretty Much Cost Man U Two Goals. He Let Torres Through to score the First Goal, Could of Gave Liverpool a Penalty when He took Gerrard Down in the box But He luckily got off. He Then Dragged Down Gerrard In The Second Half and Got himself Sent off. Just after that Liverpool scored a Third Goal and made it 3 - 1. Torres & Gerrard were pretty much running rings around him all match long.

King Steventon · 03-14-2009, 01:41 PM

It was a mixture of poor Man U defending and great Liverpool attacking, imo.

Tommy Platinum · 03-14-2009, 02:34 PM

Van Der Sar didn't make a save, yet they score 4.

We were fucking awful but to say 4-1 flattered them would be an understatement. I didn't think Liverpool were particuarly impressive. They were good at times but a fucking howler handed them an equaliser just as it did at Anfield in September.

No complaints about any of the decisions OBVIOUSLY, but a lot of complaints about the performance. Hopefully that was just a one-off terrible game for Vidic, but Ronaldo, Carrick and Anderson were pretty shit. The defending for almost all the goals was terrible. Two goals from long balls.

Conceding 4 at home is an unfamiliar experience for me.

Lost · 03-14-2009, 03:11 PM

Its games like these that make or break a team. I would love Liverpool to stay strong and Man U to go on a relapse, but tbh, I feel Manchester United are only going to come out stronger. You can only stay so strong until reality sets in, Sir Alex will take a alot from this game and United should regroup.

Liverpool will have to make the shift into overdrive. They will have to win every game from now on in. Even a draw could prove devastating.

Tommy Platinum · 03-14-2009, 03:14 PM

Who's Liverpool's next game against?

I wouldn't rule out them dropping points in it, just as they did when they defeated us at Anfield, before drawing 0-0 with Stoke there.

Liverpool Dismantle Manchester United at Old Trafford

This is a discussion on Liverpool Dismantle Manchester United at Old Trafford within the European Sports forums, part of the Sports Forums category; Liverpool have stayed alive in the Barclays Premier League title race with a comprehensive 4-1 win over rivals Manchester United ...