Liverpool 2 Manchester Utd 0

In the third of the 'big four' clashes this season, Liverpool convincingly beat Man Utd at Anfield to keep within touching distance of their opponents and Chelsea.

The Reds have been in spectacularly bipolar form this season, as evidenced by all ten of their league games producing positive results (something which co-owners Gillett and Hicks, sat uncomfortably side by side today, must at least find gratifying, used as they are to the ‘no-draw’ culture of American sports). Liverpool’s recent run of four successive defeats in all competition was remarkably their worst for 22 years. It didn’t look like a good time to be playing Manchester Utd.

Both teams adopted a 4-4-2 formation. For the home side, Benitez finally showed some courage and picked Kuyt to play with the returning Torres up front. After an excellent performance against Lyon in the mid-week defeat, Benayoun kept his place in the team, playing right midfield, Aurelio was favoured above Babel for the left side midfield position, no doubt intended to help out Insua with the threat of Valencia, who has been finding his feet in the Manchester team of late. Mascherano and Lucas played central midfield with Gerrard absent. For United, it was the usual back five (O’Shea at rightback seems to be set now), Giggs, Scholes, Carrick and Valencia in midfield with Rooney and Berbatov up front.

Liverpool took the game to United from the off, showing greater energy and desire. Mascherano and Lucas, whilst undoubtedly technically inferior to Carrick and Scholes, are better athletes and this was the salient aspect of the match. Further forward, Benayoun was again playing with verve and intelligence, at last showing that he can be effective against the big sides as well as the minnows.

The first big moment came after 15 minutes, when Evra brought down Torres on the edge of the box and Aurelio sent in one of his whipped left footed free-kicks, which van der Sar saved magnificently at his near post and reacted further to keep out the follow-up from Kuyt. Lucas worked an opening for Kuyt a couple of minutes later, but the Dutchman miscontrolled the ball and scuffed wide. No matter, he was a nuisance to Ferdinand and Vidic, and to teammate Torres too, who he patted on the head after the latter showed some customary preciosity after being fouled.

United’s only real chance of the half came when Valencia crossed for Rooney in the 21st minute, who did well enough with the header but couldn’t beat Reina, whose main action up until that point had been to kick off the balloons thrown by (both sets) of supporters onto the pitch in ironic reference to the freak goal at Sunderland last week. A dangerous burst from Carrick into the Liverpool box in the 33rd minute was stopped by an old-fashioned ‘man and ball’ sliding tackle from Carragher, a mini-catharsis of the last four games of, often personal, misery. It was the sort of challenge that in yesteryear would have been heartily cheered but in today’s neurotic no-touch environment brings anxiety to the bench lest a penalty be awarded.

The second half was similar in pattern. For Liverpool, Kuyt wasted another opportunity when he chose to pull the ball back instead of shooting. Ryan Giggs produced a couple of fine free-kicks on the hour mark, which unsettled Liverpool’s defence, but ultimately came to nought. The deadlock was broken in the 65th minute, when Benayoun put in a through ball for Torres to latch onto. The Spaniard was too fast and strong for England’s finest, Rio Ferdinand, and dispatched the ball high past van der Sar. It was typical Torres; a thoroughbred racehorse is the comparison that springs to mind.

The introduction of former Red Michael Owen as a late United substitute was met with predictable boos from the home crowd, who, in truth, always found him a touch too clinical and detached even in his goalscoring pomp for Liverpool. Owen did his best and perhaps might have got old mate Carragher sent off for a last-man foul. Antonio Valencia struck the bar with a powerful shot in the 84th minute but an equalizer would have been unmerited. The footnotes in the last five minutes were stupid red cards for Vidic and Mascherano and a breakaway goal for “wash” Ngog to add gloss to the scoreline.

I think that the main points to be taken from the match are that Torres is more vital even than Gerrard (despite the latter being the better footballer) and that United have big problems in midfield. I have been a touch ungracious about Giggs this season, but, for all that he has shown some good form, his contributions would be, what, ¼ that of Ronaldo? The centre is the main concern though - unless they get the energetic Owen Hargreaves back sharpish or buy big in January, I can’t see them putting in a challenge to Chelsea.

Further (provisional) evidence for that recent pop-sociology favourite, 'the wisdom of the crowd', can be found in the (admittedly numerically limited) QoS pre-season title poll, in which Chelsea came out top and Man Utd second, the current state of affairs in the Premier League after ten games played.

 

 

Comments

[Charles le Roi]

UTD are 'The Reds'.
Kind regards,
Charles le Roi