United Sink Liverpool at Anfield 1-0
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by Jgiuffra
Manc Yank's Red Review
The northwest derby between Liverpool and Manchester United are rarely pretty matches to watch. They are usually wars of attrition and Sunday afternoon at Anfield was just that.
Liverpool were coming off a Champions League high in midweek when they crushed Marseilles to book their place in the last 16 of the best club competition in the world. Unfortunately for Liverpool United play to a much better standard than the 14 th placed team in Ligue 1.
Needless to say, Liverpool had their big guns out on the pitch. Gerrard, Mascherano, Kewell and Benayoun were the midfield with Torres and Kuyt up front. The back for was full of the usual suspects. Riise, Hyypia, Carragher and Arbeloa with Reina between the sticks rounded off the unchanged side for United’s visit.
The Red Devils mixed up youth with experience again. The midfield had Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings—surprise, surprise—with Anderson and Hargreaves in the centre. Rooney and Tevez were up front and Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic and Wes Brown at the back with Van der Sar in the net.
The whole stadium was rocking with the reverberation of chants by both sets of supporters. This is a really special match regardless of form or league position as there is so much history between the 2 clubs. Liverpool hold a mighty advantage over United in the derby, but the Red Devils have had Liverpool’s number as of late…something that Rafa Benitez wanted desperately to remedy.
The match was hotly contested in the midfield third of the pitch with very little creative flair on show going forward. Liverpool had 2 chances to open the scoring in early on thanks to some unconvincing goal-keeping from Van der Sar. He actually collided with Ferdiand twice when coming to deal with a crosses. Both times it resulted in the ball being cleared off the line by the United defence. Thankfully Anderson was aware of the threat on the first attempt by Harry Kewell and managed to get the ball away before it crossed the line. Patrice Evra had to clear 2 minutes later when the ball rebounded off of Ferdinand’s back. Other than those 2 opportunities, Liverpool really didn’t threaten United’s goal.
United’s goal came as a result of a classic corner play that Paul Scholes has benefitted from many times over the years. Giggs took the corner short and rolled the ball to the edge of the 18 yard box where it was met by the right boot of an on-rushing Wayne Rooney. His shot was going slightly wide to the left, but Tevez stole in on the far post, stuck out his foot and sent the ball crashing into the roof of the net. The halftime whistle blew about 30 seconds after the goal. It is a devastating time to concede in any home fixture, especially against your most hated rivals.
United did exceptionally well at soaking up the pressure applied by Liverpool in the 2 nd half. They really didn’t threaten the goal. They had a few long range efforts that were handled easily by the Dutch #1. He was beaten by 2 nd half substitute Ryan Babel with a 20 yard effort. Thankfully for him his compatriot put the shot just wide of the post. Rooney could have doubled United’s lead with just over 10 minutes left on the clock. He was unable to capitalise on a beautiful cross form the left by Ronaldo. Young Wayne will be back on the score-sheet before you know it. But the fact is that even when he’s not scoring, his movement and ability to open up defences is part of makes Manchester United such a formidable opponent.
Notes:
Park Ji-Sung has returned to 1 st team training and is set to be in the squad during the all important Christmas fixtures. Paul Scholes is making good progress after his knee surgery and is expected to be back in full training in 6 weeks.
Anderson was given the Man of the Match honours by his club. The 19 year old was outstanding in the centre of midfield. He seems to get better every game….the last guy for United who kept getting better and better after a slow start was one Cristiano Ronaldo. Hopefully the young Brazilian will progress at the same rate as his Portuguese midfield partner.
It’s as you were at the top as Arsenal defeated cross town rivals Chelsea in a 1 goal thriller at the Emirates.
Christmas is really hotting up in the Prem.
Until next time…..C’mon United!!!!!!!!!!!
