Liverpool 2-0 Man United: Post-Match Pride

For the second time in five days, the strains of Rodgers and Hammerstein reverberated around this famous old ground, but this time the Liverpool supporters’ mournful tone gave way to one of euphoric celebration.

On days such as this, when it all comes together, nobody at Liverpool walks alone, least of all Rafael Benítez. The ones who walked alone were in Manchester United shirts: Nemanja Vidic, sent off for the third time in as many encounters against the Merseyside club; Gary Neville, raging against the home crowd from his seat on the bench; Michael Owen, for whom this was hardly the warmest of homecomings; all of them, in fact, as they made their way to the dressing room to face the wrath of Sir Alex Ferguson.

What a difference a goal makes — and what a difference it makes when Liverpool have, in Fernando Torres, a world-class forward who is capable of forcing that kind of breakthrough. Torres was absent through injury when his team suffered the defeats by Sunderland and Lyons that turned an earlier blip into a full-blown crisis, but, after taking a pain-killing injection to his groin before facing the old enemy, he more than made his presence felt yesterday, which was just as well, given that Steven Gerrard was missing through a groin injury of his own.

As Benítez put it afterwards: “Sometimes 80 per cent of Torres can make a difference.” That difference was made in the 65th minute. At that point the game was on a knife edge and Liverpool were still on the critical list. But when Yossi Benayoun stepped infield and threaded a perfect ball behind United’s two central defenders, Torres, leaving Rio Ferdinand in his wake, kept his feet and his head long enough to give Liverpool a lead that they did not dare to let go.

Related Links
Liverpool fans stage protest against owners
It is now time to get real, Mr Benitez
Weak defences brings promise of goal glut
Multimedia
PATRICK BARCLAY: United lacked urgency
TONY EVANS: Owen and owners feel the heat
What a player Torres is. Ferguson must rue the day that, after pursuing him for the previous three summers, he passed up the opportunity to sign him in 2007 on the basis that the forward, then at Atlético Madrid, was not composed enough in front of goal. United have won two league titles and reached two Champions League finals since then, but, every time Benítez’s record in the transfer market is cast in an unflattering light against Ferguson’s, that £20.2 million deal is worth considering.

After a week in which his regime has been questioned like never before — although not within the club, where his relationship with the board is infinitely healthier than two years ago — Benítez was entitled to enjoy this. If the nightmare scenario for him was of a winning goal for United from Michael Owen, the player he sold to Real Madrid in one of his first acts as Liverpool manager and then neglected to re-sign this summer, the reality was of a well-earned victory that was embellished in stoppage time by David Ngog, Torres’s inexperienced understudy. That Ngog’s goal was set up by Lucas Leiva, Anfield’s butt of derision, will only have heightened the manager’s satisfaction.

Lucas has personified Liverpool’s problems, struggling to fill the void left by Xabi Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid, but here he embodied their battle to overcome adversity.

He is nobody’s idea of a Brazilian footballer — and how novel a sight it was to see Lucas and Javier Mascherano, Brazil and Argentina internationals respectively, outclassed for a period in the first half by Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes, two Englishmen — but, significantly, he fought harder than anyone in that midfield.

It seemed as if Liverpool wanted victory more. Too many of United’s players failed to engage with the game — Carrick, Ryan Giggs, the infuriating Dimitar Berbatov, even Wayne Rooney to a far lesser extent — whereas Liverpool, with Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Lucas scrapping for every ball, showed a desire to go the extra mile in search of the victory they craved. No, make that the victory they needed.

Ferguson complained afterwards about his team’s lack of penetration. He was brave to do so, since it gave rise to all manner of awkward questions. The dissenting grumbles had been kept to a minimum in the previous 11 matches — ten wins and one draw since that surprise defeat by Burnley in the opening week of the season — but they do not look the same side without Cristiano Ronaldo.

The exception to United’s malaise for much of the game was Vidic, who seemed determined to prove a point after a couple of chastening experiences against Liverpool last season. For the most part, he and Ferdinand handled Torres extremely well, while blocking and intercepting everything else that came their way, but, as the game drifted away from his team, Vidic was harshly booked for a foul on Torres — perhaps the least of several robust challenges to that point — and then sent off in the 89th minute for desperately grappling with Dirk Kuyt as the forward ran clear. Déjà vu.

Ferguson’s complaint was that Liverpool should already have been a man short. He was right. Two minutes earlier Owen, racing on to Rooney’s pass, had got the wrong side of Carragher and was brought down just outside the penalty area. It was, as the rules say, the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity — leaving aside any discussion of whether the Owen of 2009 would have taken it — but Andre Marriner, who was otherwise excellent, showed only a yellow card for the Liverpool defender.

Liverpool did have a man sent off in stoppage time, with Mascherano picking up a second booking for an absurdly overcommitted challenge on Edwin van der Sar, but, as the clock ticked down, with nails bitten down to the quick, Lucas strode clear and, as the United defence opened up in front of him, he put in Ngog.

The young forward is no Torres, but he, too, kept his nerve and, as he rolled the ball past Van der Sar, the storm over Anfield made way for a golden sky. Crisis over.

Liverpool (4-4-2): J M Reina 6, G Johnson 7, J Carragher 8, D Agger 8, E Insúa 5 - Y Benayoun 7 (sub: M Skrtel, 90min), J Mascherano 6, Lucas Leiva 7, F Aurélio 6 - D Kuyt 6, F Torres 7 (sub: D Ngog, 81). Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, P Degen, J Spearing, R Babel, A Voronin. Booked: Carragher, Mascherano. Sent off: Mascherano.

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 - J O’Shea 6, R Ferdinand 6, N Vidic 7, P Evra 6 - L A Valencia 6, M Carrick 5, P Scholes 7 (sub: Nani, 74), R Giggs 5 - W Rooney 6, D Berbatov 5 (sub: M Owen, 74). Substitutes not used: B Foster, G Neville, J Evans, Fábio Da Silva, Anderson. Booked: Vidic, Evra, Berbatov. Sent off: Berbatov.

Referee: A Marriner Attendance: 44,188



  Just goes to show ..even THE TIMES sport loved us !
 

Them player ratings are an absolute joke!

Them player ratings are an absolute joke!

No mention of a certain Xabi Alonso then??

A brazilian reporter from the ESPN Brazil was in England last week and watched a few games from the EPL and the Championship, such as Watford, Chelsea, and most importantly, Liverpool x Man Utd. He said "nothing in England compares to Liverpool fans" and that the cheer after Torres' goal was one of the biggest explosions of joy he ever saw. He also said listening to YNWA at Anfield is something every football fan should experience at least once in their lives. Pretty cool!

And those lucky mancs got to hear it twice yesterday

No mention of a certain Xabi Alonso then??

No that's only when we lose we miss him :

A brazilian reporter from the ESPN Brazil was in England last week and watched a few games from the EPL and the Championship, such as Watford, Chelsea, and most importantly, Liverpool x Man Utd. He said "nothing in England compares to Liverpool fans" and that the cheer after Torres' goal was one of the biggest explosions of joy he ever saw. He also said listening to YNWA at Anfield is something every football fan should experience at least once in their lives. Pretty cool!

Nice one mate. Good to hear that.

It's one thing experiencing the Anfield noise, but it's something much more bigger being involved with creating it. Yesterday was proof of that.

Liverpool 2-0 Manchester Utd (25/10/09) - Fanzone

What he was saying about N'Gog came back to shut him up!!

Got to say, was liking the celebration for Nando's goal when he started punching the Manc in the head

He owned the Manc everytime!

man utd lose and fergie targetting the refs again. doesnt bi*ch when 7 minutes of extra time added

Needed to wait for this post so my heah was calm. Jeesus what a performance. Couldn't single out a MOTM. Every one was awesome. The determination in tackles, the high tempo through out the game. This was akin to how we finnished last season. That was against all comers, not just the mancs. We need to keep this attitude in all our matches now, to push on and have an unbeaten run to set new records. Thought Carra needed a rest before this game. Thought he was over compensating for a poor start to the season by his standards, and trying to do to much. How wrong was I. Back tohis brilliant best. Lucas who I don't have a lot of faith in, Outstanding, best i've seen him play. Can he keep it up now. Hope so, he shut a few critics up Sunday, including me.  Don't remember now if I heard it on the telly or the radio but some comentator or reporter said, " Mascherano ? Monster ! says it all don't it. Just brilliant all round, not much to add to that relly, can't find the words. I really didn't expect to get much from this match, all things considered. Thought a draw would be o.k. Can't think were we found that form from but we need to keep it going now.  On a more personal topic. Was a bit dissapointed when my youngster asked if he could have a picture of ferdinand on his bedroom wall. Then I found out it was the one from the back of the Express showing Nando screwing him all ends up. F***ing brilliant. 

I love pepe

Reina should have sat at the kop. He's just as fanatic as all of us.. Delighted to have him in our team.

I've been dodgy myself today! Sound like a poor Barry White impression. Didn't impress the ladies though. They all just kept saying 'what?'

To answer Keith 'Simpleton' Singleton's question - No, I wasn't happy with the ref. He gave united every free kick they asked for in the last 15 minutes, with most of them being around our box for nothing like fouls. I accept some of them were, but a lot of them weren't. Then he hands 5 minutes of injury time and plays 7. Where did he get that from? The touchline perhaps? With his cards he was pretty consistent. I'd said to the lad next to me in the first half that vidic getting sent off was bound to happen as he doesn't seem able to stay on the pitch against us. But Masch went aswell, and I say fair do's, he dived in when he was on a yellow.

But all in all, who cares? We stuffed you. Again.

You must of been watching a different game from me. Granted the last ten minutes United tried to claim everything, who wouldn't, they were desperate. However, what about the other 80 mins that you have conveniently forgot about?

Regards.

You must of been watching a different game from me. Granted the last ten minutes United tried to claim everything, who wouldn't, they were desperate. However, what about the other 80 mins that you have conveniently forgot about?

Regards.

No offense mate but take off the red whiskey tinted glasses for a sec. All game the mancs were getting a good share of the ball from the ref. Yeah he let some things go, but he did against us too! Or did you not notice the adidas logo literally get ripped off of Kuyts shirt in the 6 yard box, but no penalty at all? So it went both ways. But in the majority you had a lot more opportunities with free kicks in good positions and fu**ed em. Because you guys were sh*te and couldn't take advantage of anything. Fact is, the ref made some bad calls both ways, but he gave a lot more to you in the end so quit ya F***ing whinging and accept the fact you got your arse kicked, whipped, and handed back to you on a platter.

REGARDS, 2-0.

It was a perfect game and a great atmosphere! Carra is back at his best. Fernando wasn't at 100% but that's enough to beat United haha!

No offense mate but take off the red whiskey tinted glasses for a sec. All game the mancs were getting a good share of the ball from the ref. Yeah he let some things go, but he did against us too! Or did you not notice the adidas logo literally get ripped off of Kuyts shirt in the 6 yard box, but no penalty at all? So it went both ways. But in the majority you had a lot more opportunities with free kicks in good positions and fu**ed em. Because you guys were sh*te and couldn't take advantage of anything. Fact is, the ref made some bad calls both ways, but he gave a lot more to you in the end so quit ya f**king whinging and accept the fact you got your arse kicked, whipped, and handed back to you on a platter.

REGARDS, 2-0.

I don't wear them   As for Kuyts, they were both pulling eachothers shirts so no one can complain there. "But Yes" we got our arse's well and truly kicked  

I don't wear them  As for Kuyts, they were both pulling eachothers shirts so no one can complain there. "But Yes" we got our arse's well and truly kicked 

No worries then mate. Just saying, i have seen a lot of complaints about the ref, but its completely unfounded. If you say that about Kuyts, then you gotta say it about the Carra-Owen situation as well, because it did start with an initial little foul on Carra that he just lunged back at. So there ya go
And don't do the little crying face - your on a Liverpool forum, there aint gonna be no sympathy

And don't do the little crying face - your on a Liverpool forum, there aint gonna be no sympathy

. Is that better, i should of known really

Read in some sh*te papers that Rafa played a 4-4-2 against the Mancs. Any truth in that?

I thought he played a 4-2-3-1. I'll like it to be a 4-4-2 because I have had this convo between a manc.

Manc: What's the formation? 4-2-3-1?
Me: Could be. Could be 4-4-2 also with Aurelio on the left, Kuyt on the right.
Manc: Rubbish. Then your two central midfielders both defensive midfielders? That's CRAP.
Me: It has happened before if my memory serves me right.
Manc: Then Rafa's crap.

Today, when I bought that supposedly sh*te paper, there was a comment that Rafa played a 4-4-2. Even though it's a sh*te paper but at least there's something to back my comment up!

So, I whipped out my phone, and smsed that Manc back..

Me: . You fail. Rafa started 4-4-2 at Anfield. Eat your humble pie. .

Then I sent him back the EXACT sms that he sent me 2 days ago.

I forwarded, back to him. 'Rubbish. Then your two central midfielders both defensive midfielders? That's CRAP.'

I got on his absolute nerves, he called me and screamed 'WHEN DID I SAY THAT??' in the most desperate moment to cover up his error. I laughed hard and told him.

So now I need people to tell me whether it's a 4-4-2, cause like I said, afterall it's a sh*te paper!

Shocker !

JC having been blatantly fouled by the judas Little Mickey O.

at "Paul Scholes, he cant keep up, he's 48 years old!"

good to see marcheda supporting us and getting the accent