Liverpool 2, Man Utd 0: United they fall as Reds turn back time
Oct 26 2009 by Ian Doyle, Daily Post
Pepe Reina leads the celebrations after David N'Gog's goal
THE clocks may have gone back an hour but Liverpool turned back time six months yesterday.
Faced with the prospect of their worst losing run in more than 55 years, the Anfield outfit finally invoked the spirit of their enthralling run-in of last season to step back from the abyss.
But forget talk of issuing a statement of intent to their Premier League rivals, or sticking two fingers up to the critics who were already penning the obituaries of Rafael Benitez’s reign.
The most important message Liverpool will have sent out by defeating Manchester United is to themselves, one that must be heeded if they are to ensure the momentum of this victory is maintained.
Passion. Determination. Unity. Hard work. Allied to the undoubted talent among Benitez’s squad, these qualities had helped Liverpool push United all the way to the finishing line last season.
Yet most, if not all, have been conspicuous by their absence during a deflating start to the campaign that struck a new low with the dismal Champions League defeat at home to Lyon on Tuesday, a fourth loss in succession.
A fifth yesterday at the hands of their bitter North West rivals would have represented Liverpool’s worst run since 1953. Instead, rather than looking nervously over their shoulders, they can once again start training their sights on those above them.
Not a bad way for Benitez to celebrate his 200th Premier League game in, particularly with American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett both in attendance.
Precisely a year ago, Liverpool underlined their championship challenge with a 1-0 victory at Chelsea. And while title talk is off the agenda at present, Benitez will hope yesterday’s victory provides a similar shot in the arm to his team.
While last weekend’s surrender at Sunderland was down to a beach ball, this triumph was all about balls; the ones shown by Liverpool’s players, especially given the absence of talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard.
Individuals who had consistently fallen way short of their own high standards at last delivered as Liverpool produced by far their best display of the campaign. That there were so many contenders for the man-of-the-match award spoke volumes.
The midfield battle, so often the decisive factor of these games, was comprehensively won by Liverpool, led by the irrepressible Javier Mascherano.
This was the Argentine back to his ‘monster’ best, delivering a Tasmanian devil of a performance alongside Lucas Leiva before blotting his copybook slightly with his injury-time dismissal for a late lunge on United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
United simply weren’t allowed to gain any rhythm to their play, and when they did threaten they found the Liverpool defence, and Jamie Carragher in particular, in obdurate mood.
Carragher has, by his own admission, been below par in recent weeks, but here he was immense, illustrated by a fine first-half challenge to deny Michael Carrick a shooting opportunity inside the penalty box.
He rode his luck, though, in the closing moments as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, awarded just a yellow card by referee Andre Marriner after tangling with Michael Owen just outside the area when other officials may have shown a red.
Perhaps it was inevitable Owen would court controversy on his first return to Anfield since moving to Old Trafford, his name greeted by deafening jeers during the team announcements which intensified when the striker warmed up on the touchline before building to a cacophony on his introduction moments later.
But if Carragher deserved that fortune, so too did Liverpool in keeping an all-too-rare clean sheet. With Glen Johnson belying the myth he cannot defend and Daniel Agger rediscovering his feet, only Emiliano Insua, up against the speedy Antonio Valencia, showed signs of a struggle as Liverpool defended with increasing confidence.
The same could not be said of United. Fernando Torres may not have been fully fit but his return to the starting line-up scared the visitors as much as it boosted Liverpool.
Although Nemanja Vidic, mindful of his nightmare at Old Trafford last March, was clearly intimidated by Torres, a cautious Rio Ferdinand was seemingly content to let his team-mate take responsibility for the striker.
And both were caught out as Liverpool landed the first blow on 65 minutes, Torres racing in behind Vidic on to a Yossi Benayoun pass and showing strength to hold off Ferdinand before firing a rising shot beyond van der Sar from eight yards.
Benayoun has emerged as a major creative force during this calendar year, and his constant probing always appeared the most likely route to a goal for Liverpool.
Vidic’s misery, meanwhile, was made complete in the 89th minute when he was dismissed for the third successive time in this fixture for hauling down Dirk Kuyt.
Few could argue with the final outcome. Benitez’s men created the better chances and even Sir Alex Ferguson was magnanimous enough to admit a strangely subdued United were deservedly vanquished.
The tone had been set during a first half in which Liverpool were in the ascendancy. Fabio Aurelio, a goalscorer in the historic 4-1 win at United last season, came close to repeating his heroics when curling a fine 25-yard free-kick that van der Sar clawed out from underneath his crossbar before blocking Kuyt’s angled follow-up.
Kuyt then spurned a clear opening when shooting across the face of goal after being released by Lucas before Aurelio, having played a diagonal pass out to Benayoun on the right flank, sprinted 35 yards to meet the Israeli’s cross but sent his free header too close to van der Sar.
Other than a Wayne Rooney header that was clutched by Pepe Reina, United offered little in the final third but finally began to threaten once Torres put Liverpool ahead.
Substitute Nani curled weakly at Reina before Valencia, United’s chief danger, struck the crossbar from an acute angle.
But the pressing need of the visitors played straight into Liverpool’s hands and, with gaping holes appearing in 10-man United’s defence during injury time, Lucas released substitute David Ngog to slot past van der Sar and prompt a release of joy from the home crowd and Reina, who raced the full length of the field to celebrate.
Those fans will hope the season starts here. For Benitez and his players, it has to.
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