A solitary Carlos Tevez goal at Anfield was enough for Manchester United to continue their dominance over Liverpool.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez may well feel that he is stuck in a cycle where history continues to repeat itself.
In the closing minutes of the corresponding fixture last season, a set piece resulted in John O’Shea tapping in from close range, in front of The Kop, to give Manchester United a 1-0 victory over his side. This year, a corner at the same end of the ground, this time in the dying embers of the first half, ended with a Carlos Tevez finish from a similar distance, which condemned Liverpool to defeat by the same score. The result left the elusive Premiership title the Merseyside club has been searching for seemingly as far away as it was at the end of the previous campaign.
Early van der Sar errors almost cost United
Despite his usual preference for rotating the players in his starting eleven, for this important match, Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez decided to stick with exactly the same side that was so impressive in their 4-0 Champions League win on Tuesday against Marseille. This meant that Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres were once again in partnership up front, and it was the Spaniard who came closest to breaking the deadlock early on.
Torres’chance came when Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar tangled with his own defenders whilst trying to clear a ball in the air. As a result of the collision the ball sat up in for Torres, buthis header from in front of goal went just wide.
Shortly afterwards, van der Sar almost cost his team again when he caused more confusion in the United penalty area following a Steven Gerrard free kick. This time the ball hit Rio Ferdinand and was bouncing towards the open goal before Patrice Evra saved his keeper’s blushes by clearing the danger with Dirk Kuyt closing in fast.
United punish poor Liverpool defending
During the first half, Sir Alex Ferguson’s defensive set up, with Anderson and Owen Hargreaves in central midfield, did an impressive job of absorbing Liverpool’s pressure. The same, however, could not be said for The Reds who allowed United to exploit a defensive lapse shortly before half time.
Liverpool were so concerned with arranging their zonal marking positions in the box after the award of a Manchester United corner that they failed to notice that Wayne Rooney was completely free on the edge of the area. When Ryan Giggs played the ball directly to the England international he had the time and space to send a low drive towards goal which Carlos Tevez turned into the net.
Second half stalemate
The second half of the match saw Liverpool desperately trying to get back on terms following United’s classic sucker punch. Despite large amounts of possession, however, and the replacement of Kewell and Kuyt with Babel and Crouch, the closest they came to an equalizer was Babel’s shot from a few yards outside the area which was just off target.
With Liverpool committing men to attack they were almost caught out at the other end, but Wayne Rooney shot wide after being put in on goal.
The result means that Liverpool are now nine points behind Manchester United, albeit with a game in hand, and have to look forward to away trips to all of the other top four clubs in the second half of the season.
