My prediction: Liverpool 1:1 Man Utd
My take one the match:
Wow! I still feel like I am going to wake up any second now and then it turns out it was all a dream - too good to be true!
It was the first time Liverpool scored four or more goals versus Manchester United at Old Trafford since they beat them 5:2 in November 1936. The last time the Red Devils had conceded four goals at home was versus QPR on New Year's Day 1992. And since Sir Alex Ferguson took over a Man Utd manager, Liverpool had only done the double on his side twice before, in 2000/'01 and 2001/'02.
With all those stats in mind and looking at the table - Man Utd at the top with a seven-points lead and a game in-hand, Liverpool were precluded before a ball was kicked.
The more confident Man Utd started, the first five minutes taken over by them in possession, control and pressure, Liverpool having to find their feet first it seemed. Then Liverpool took over, Mascherano making fine runs through but losing the ball when it was crucial on a couple of occasions.
Nearly halfway through the half, goalkeeper Pepe Reina brought down Park Ji-Sung in the box after he broke clear of the Liverpool defence, conceding a penalty Ronaldo hit past Reina in a flash. That got another stat against Liverpool: In every match Ronaldo had scored, Man Utd hadn't lost and went on to win. It was the 50th goal Man Utd have scored again Liverpool in the Premier League.
If that was supposed to put weight on Liverpool's shoulders it did not look like it did. Only five minutes after United had taken the lead, Liverpool equalised, Nemanja Vidic giving the ball away to Fernando Torres - a constant threat he did not have a clue how to deal with, making him look like a school boy- who had an easy job slotting it into the bottom left past Edwin Van der Sar.
From that point onwards, Torres kept tyrannizing Vidic, nutting the ball through his legs for it to go out for a corner on one occasion and being brought down for a good penalty appeal on another, but it was not given. Man Utd kept the pressure up, too, but were held off by solid performances by Sami Hyypiä - brought in last second just before kick-off for an injured-in-warm-up Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel and Jamir Caragher of course. Cristiano Ronaldo always had at least three Liverpool players around him when he got the ball, being held up and frustrated brilliantly. There was just one short flap when Reina dropped an easy hold from a Ronaldo free kick just past the half-hour mark. Carlos Tevez was there to catch him out, but he was just able to get hold of it.
The match stayed crunchingly close until just before half time Gerrard was brought down in United's box by Patrice Evra - blatant penalty, converted by the Scouser captain just leading it past Van der Sar's left. After defending off any counter-pressure very well, Liverpool could definitely be the happier side of the two, taking a 2:1 lead into half time.
The second half started just like the first, Man Utd putting on all the pressure but kept blocked out well by the Reds' defence, making Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney look more and more absent, uncomfortable and frustrated that even Tevez could not make up for no matter how hard he tried. The couple of hits Reina made a mess of the defence - especially Skrtel - could scrap up, thank god!
All the possession Man Utd enjoyed was to no prevail. Dirk Kuyt worked his socks off as always to assure Torres and Gerrard had room to break through and steal the show. With just under half an hour to go, Tevez should have equalised, expecting the ball to fall his way on the line which was helped in by Rooney from the left, but it somehow went out.
After that it was Liverpool who created more and more pressure, which all lead to Ferguson to make all three changes at once. I do not remember him having to do that ever before! But it did not help much as only five minutes later Vidic's day turned from bad to worse when he brought down Gerrarde stupidly just outside the bix, nearly ripping his shorts off in the process in a blatant scoring opportunity = blatant red.
Gerrard and Fabio Aurelio lined up for the resulting free kick, the latter bringing Old Trafford to a second-of-silence-stand-still in desibelief as he curled it in past an on-looking Man Utd defence and Van der Sar from about 20 yards out with his left foot into the righ corner.
The few chances Man Utd created from then on, they either just blurred themselves or were blocked out. Gerrard could have and should have made it four when he received Ryan Babel's cross in the box but miscued it. Well, shame, but Gerrard is allowed to do that once in a while, I mean, he is only human as well, so, I let him off the hook that time. :-P
Into stoppage time, Liverpool having made all substitutions and looking like they were going to be victorious in a glorious fashion, it got even sweeter for the Reds, when Andrea Dossena chipped the ball over Van der Sar with one touch from Reina's goal kick. It just made the dream come true complete!
All the Liverpool fans sung and laughed their hearts out loud to all the pessimists, doubters and empty Man Utd seats. It was one of the best matches I have ever seen! Not just because I am a Liverpool fan and we won against all odds, stats and facts; but also because it was a juicy, highly-competitive and fast-paced match - you could not breath or blink for being too afraid to miss something.
The ref was flawless, which makes a change as they normally like to spoil matches like this with dubious or ludicrous decision. I do not know which match Ferguson was watching, saying Man Utd were the better team! Liverpool were brilliant, outplaying their whining divers. I hope this will start a dream roll - up for Liverpool and down for Man who?!?!?!
Nothing's impossible... YNWA
Liverpool Goals: 1: 27:38min Fernando Torres (9); 2: 43.min Steven Gerrard (8) penalty; 3: 76:17min Fabio Aurelio (12); 4: 90:13 Andrea Dossena (2)
Man Utd Goals: 1: 22.min Cristiano Ronaldo (7) penalty
Liverpool Bookings: 36.min Jamie Carragher (23), 60.min Javier Mascherano (20), 64.min Martin Skrtel (37)
Man Utd Bookings: 37.min Rio Ferdinand (5), 44.min Edwin Van der Sar (1); Red: 76.min Nemanja Vidic (15)
Liverpool Changes: 1. 67.min On: Albert Riera (11) Off: Andrea Dossena (2)
2. 81.min On: Ryan Babel (19) Off: Fernando Torres (9)
3. 90.min On: Nabil El Zhar (31) Off: Steven Gerrard (8)
Man Utd Changes: 1.-3. 73./74.min On: Paul Scholes (18), Dimitar Berbatov (9) & Ryan Giggs (11) Off: Anderson (8), Park Ji-Sung (13) & Michael Carrick (16)
1st half: Man Utd : Liverpool
- Attempts: 5:3
- On target: 2:2
- Offsides:0:0
- Corners: 7:1
- Free kicks: 5:5
2nd half: Man Utd : Liverpool
- Attempts: 4:3
- On target: 1:3
- Offsides: 2:1
- Corners: 2:2
- Free kicks: 9:4
Man Utd : Liverpool
- Possession*: 55% : 45%
- Passing Success*: 80.3% : 74.2%
- Tackles/Success*: 18/83.3% - 32/71.9%
- Territorial Advantage*: 55.6% : 44.4%
Images from top to bottom: Torres taken from mirror.co.uk; Gerrard taken from news.bbc.co.uk; Ferguson taken from mirror.co.uk
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