Manchester United vs Liverpool
Game Review, Goals and Highlights:
Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool
Liverpool climbed to within four points of Manchester United after thumping them 4-1 at Old Trafford.
It was a must-win game for the reds of Merseyside as defeat would have left them 10 points adrift of the reigning EPL champions, with United having a game in hand.
Liverpool started off the sharper team, despite Jamie Carragher being switched to right back due to the late withdrawal of Alvaro Arbeloa.
Yet it was United who took the lead against the run of play. Tevez played a through ball to Park Ji-Sung and though Pepe Reina was quick off his line to read the danger he clattered into the United midfielder and the referee pointed to the spot.
Cristiano Ronaldo dispatched the spot-kick for his 17th goal of the season.
On 28 minutes Liverpool equalized. Vidic let the ball bounce over his head and in trying to retrieve it was dispossessed by Torres. The Spaniard raced into the penalty area unopposed and rolled the ball by Edwin Van Der Sar.
On 43 minutes Steven Gerrard converted a penalty he won when Patrice Evra mistimed a tackle just inside the penalty area.
After the break United were energized. Rooney pulled a ball back for Tevez to turn a shot just wide. Though united had much of the momentum in truth their passing wasn’t sharp, Carrick in particular was wayward in his distribution.
For Vidic a bad day was about to get worse. A poor first touch from the Serb meant Gerrard was through on goal. The Serb brought him down and was shown a straight red. Fabio Aurielio curled the resulting free kick by Van Der Sar and the game was done and dusted.
In injury time Andrea Dossena lobbed Van Der Sar to at least give the Merseysiders hope and to condemn the Red Devils to their first home defeat of the season as well as the first visiting team to score two or more at Old Trafford since Hull City four and a half months ago.
Afterwards Sir Alex Ferguson said defeat was hard on his side. “I thought we were the better team,” the Red Devils manager said.
Gerrard was delighted and hasn’t given up hope of winning the league. “Hopefully that gives teams that are going to play against Manchester United a bit of belief that they can be beaten,” the captain of Liverpool said.
Chelsea has a chance to draw within 4 points when they play Manchester City on Sunday, yet if the Red Devils when their game in hand at Portsmouth, they’ll have a seven point cushion going into the business end of the season.
Check out the Goals and Highlights:
