Man United took all three points at Anfield after an injury time winner from John O’Shea.
Liverpool had looked on top throughout the entire game, but a disallowed goal (?wrongly), some superb keeping from Edwin Van der Saar and a lack in that extra bit of quality in front of goal, left Liverpool all level as the game entered stoppage time after 90 minutes.
Paul Scholes had been sent off very late in the game after appearing to swing a punch at Xabi Alonso. Whether or not it deserved a red is a question of another day – it was clearly a foolish thing to do.
John O’Shea scored with a typical goal line scramble after an inswinging free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo. Liverpool were deflated, Rafa was seething, Fergie was dancing and the United fans (who appear to have adopted a new dress code of all black for their trips to Anfield) were left to celebrate a victory that will probably ensure they win the title this season.
On reflection we outclassed United for most of the game, but our inability to take our chances, not just in this game but all season, will have Benitez reaching for his new and improved cheque-book this summer. As the final whistle went it was just left to Gary Neville to beat his chests as United celebrated.
How I hate him.
Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United.
Totally agree with RED1028. Strange substitutions indeed. And ditto, Neville getting kicked where it hurts. What would hurt him more though is ensuring that the mancs never match us for league titles won. They haven,t a prayer in Europe!
this is to u moron calling himself loving gary neville wat r u writing in 2 a liverpool website in the first place we dont want scumbags like u crawl under ur rock wer u belong and stick 2 crawling up that tramp nevilles arse
If we got beaten today by the future champions then this is why…
1. Sissoko in midfield and Gerrard on the right wing?
Everyone knows, including Rafa, Stevie performs best in the middle, end of. Huh? In all fairness Sissoko was crap today and it was plain to see, his control and passing were terrible at times.
2. Possession and domination.
At home with a full house we had a chance to carry on our form and yes, we dominated the match! Bellamy made Vidic look pathetic at times and caused chaos on the right. Our attacking football was quality save for some dodgy passing at times. Utd responded to our dominance and could only counter-attack with a 5 man midfield in the 2nd half. (They did no better in the 1st half either). When was the last time Utd came to Anfield and were made to look ordinary?
How much possession did we have? How many corners did we have? 12 And convert? 0
That brings me to my next point.
3. Our finishing is suspect and very questionable at times.
I won’t mention names, it’s the usual suspects. Credit for the attempts I suppose but it’s soul destroying at times to see so much possession fizzle out to nothing. We must convert our chances!!
(For a split second half the universe thought Risse had pulled a rabbit out of the hat with his free-kick but it’s exactly those chances we must take if we can’t score from open play).
Long range chances ie Gonzalez, Gerrard & Risse (from open play) are potshots at worst and unlucky at best if the ‘keeper gets a finger on them. The ratio of potshots v unlucky was more for the former than the later, a lot more.
4. Substitutions
I think Rafa got it wrong on 2 counts today. The starting 11 and the subs.
Aurellio for Gonzalez. Like for like so no change there. And little advantage gained.
It mystified me why he subbed Pennant for Bellamy. I expected to see Stevie G slot in behind Dirk and Pennant to take his position on the wing? No! Huh? Bellamy is an out-and-out striker so why bring on a winger for a striker and leave a below-par midfielder on?
Crouch for Sissoko. See above. All very strange if you ask me and all very strange if you don’t.
5. Champions are lucky. Or classy, or both.
I had a horrible feeling in the last 10mins that we hadn’t taken our chances and might be punished.
It was like Grounhog day as the team who scrapped a late winner last week repeated the feat this week. They turned the screw after doing f**k all for most of the match and got lucky. All our pummeling on their goal and we were hit with a sucker punch. But that’s foootball. They aren’t 9 points clear ‘cos they’re crap, we’re 19 points behind them ‘cos we haven’t taken our chances or been that good. Fact.
If we are gonna get beat it might as well be by the future champions (and I hate saying that!)
Lets not forget we did good in Istanbul and Cardiff and needed an element of luck and class to win so credit where credit’s due.
At least Chavski won’t win it this year! And the Gooners are closing in so time for some decisive finishing.
PS I just loved it when Gary Neville got kicked in the nuts! 😉
oh my god – only manchester united could win a game in those circumstances…we out-played them for the majority of the game especially the 2nd half but u have to take ur chances in these games as if u dont u get punished and thats exactly what happened today – unlucky lads…barca game more important as season is over in the league for us…champions next season!! liverpool – buy a top-class finisher
dan p.s man utd are not as gd as they think they are
2-0 3-0 in the near future?!? Wake up! It’s always next year with you scousers. I’ll look into my mystic meg ball and tell you what’ll happen next year. You’ll get:
– 4th in the league,
– Quarters in the FA cup,
– Knocked out early in the worthless,
– Last 16 in Europe.
All your fans will say “were heading in the right direction. With more money in the summer we’ll be beating the likes of these 2 or 3 nil”
Wake up, your team is crap. How many of your players would make the starting 11 at united or chelsea? Gerrard and maybe Carragher. That’s it. Average team with an average manager.
Snuggles x
Forget the mancs – even they know they were outclassed. The game said one thing – we need a top class finisher. It looks like the yanks will solve that at the end of the season. Be patient brothers, in the near future we will be beating teams like this 2-0, 3-0. That is the first time all season I have seen the mancs play for a draw and win!
Ronaldo the best player in the world – pog mo thoin!!
GARY NEVILLE IS A RED
Manchester United should have a penalty when agger brought down Saha.Liverpool was lucky Scholes was send of
The goal was rightly disallowed, pure and simple, no excuses please. We had all the posesion but couldn’t score, thats our fault and our fault only. Another goal keeping error gave United the win.
Credit to United, they don’t give up and are a slick outfit. Our players work hard but lack real quality. Rafa has spent a lot of money on workhorses. Barca will turn us over on Tuesday. Also I’ll be glad when we leave Anfield, it’s such a second rate ground. Even Bolton have a better stadium than us.
Well deserved victory!