P: United 2 -0 Liverpool
PREVIEW
When United run out against Liverpool today, they will know that victory will take them back to the top of the table and also end Liverpool’s interest in the Premiership title.
Sir Alex Ferguson however, does not accept this judgement. “I don’t agree that they will be out of it if we win,” Ferguson said. “It’s so early, just October, how can anyone say that? They’ve had Chelsea, Everton and Bolton away from home, so you have to look at that.
“They have ourselves, Arsenal and Chelsea still to play at home so they can turn it around. It’s a competitive league.”
Sir Alex’s generosity will obviously find acceptance from Rafael Benitez. Yet, for most observers, Liverpool, already defeated thrice, will have to put together an outstanding sequence of wins and trust in an almighty collapse of form from both United and Chelsea to prevail in the Premiership.
“We have to keep going and fighting for everything,” said Liverpool’s goalkeeper Pepe Reina. “But if they win, there will be 11 points between us and that could be too much. We have to try to win there, though we know it won’t be easy.”
The northwest derby is also a match of milestones. United’s Paul Scholes will play his 500th game for the club whilst Wayne Rooney will notch up 100 matches in red.
Sir Alex said: “He is just an exceptional footballer and I don’t know about Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville or Paul Scholes at 21, but they wouldn’t have played that many games by then. I would have to check that, but I don’t think any had reached 100 and I would have to say that Rooney is the best 21-year-old I’ve ever seen.
“I hope he plays 1,000 games here because Wayne Rooney is the type of player this club wants. He enjoys it here, he is at the right club, there’s no doubt about that.”
Liverpool will look to the returning Gerrard to exploit United’s relative midfield weakness. The match’s importance, the returning influence of Rooney and United’s steely defence should give the home side the edge.
As I See It : Liverpool Eye
PREMIERSHIP RESULTS:
Middlesbrough 1 - 0 Newcastle; Chelsea 2 - 1 Portsmouth ; Wigan 4 - 0 Man City; Aston Villa 1 - 1 Fulham; Charlton 0 - 0 Watford; Everton 2 - 0 Sheffield United ; Reading 0 - 4 Arsenal; Spurs 1 - 0 West Ham
MATCH REPORT…
United 2 - 0 Liverpool
Scholes (38) ; Ferdinand (65)
A two goal victory and the dismantling of Liverpool’s title ambitions was the sum total of United’s convincing display against the Merseysiders.
United dominated from beginning to last, affording a poor visiting side just one clear-cut opportunity which Kuyt should have headed into the net instead of the open arms of Edwin Van Der Sar.
United overwhelmed their opponents from start to finish despite the fact that Sir Alex sent out a team to send shivers down the spine of every home fan among the record 75,828 crowd. Winger Cristano Ronaldo was missing through injury. In his place came Darren Fletcher to join Scholes and Carrick, as United sought to match the expected midfield supremacy of Rafa Benitez’s men by stocking the midfield with central players.
Sir Alex’s fluid formation, at one time 4-3-3, at another 4-2-2, confused the Liverpool players, who were themselves stifled by a 4-5-1 set-up, designed to secure nothing less than a draw. United rarely missed the creativity of Ronaldo. Giggs showed no ill-effects from his injury lay-off and was a constant threat to Liverpool’s rearguard. Fletcher worked tirelessly during the first half and with Rooney and Saha linking well up front, Sir Alex’s men were able to carry menace with every forward movement.
United accumulated half chances and near misses until the 38th minute when a clever United move released Giggs on the left. The winger’s drilled cross found Scholes stealing into the box un-marked. The midfielder, celebrating 500 United appearances, converted the chance joyously at the second attempt. It was no more than United deserved.
“It’s rare to get that much space in the box,” Scholes admitted later. “Liverpool normally play so defensively but today for some reason I managed to sneak in and get the goal. I think we have played better over the last few weeks and I thought we were quite comfortable today, we never looked like conceding a goal and looked dangerous going forward as well.”
The second half began much as the first had ended, with United getting the better of the exchanges. Rio Ferdinand wrapped up the points and victory for United in the 65th minute, when he found himself on the end of a deflected cross. Showing great composure, the defender controlled the ball with his right foot, to leave his Liverpool marker bambozzled, before rifling home his left-foot shot into the top corner of Liverpool’s net.
It was a great goal to cap and great team performance.
TEAM
United: Van der Sar, Neville (O’Shea 77), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Brown 89) Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha
Subs: Kuszczak, Ronaldo, Solskjaer
POST SCRIPT
Sir Alex: “We knew we couldn’t afford to lose the big one again and the players responded to that,” said a contented Sir Alex Ferguson. “It was an excellent performance. I thought Michael Carrick was fantastic, Paul Scholes gave us composure, Ryan Giggs with his experience and the workrate of Darren Fletcher. I thought our midfield was a big influence for us today.
“When you start the season you have the hope, desire and intention to do well and so far the players have not let us down. There is great confidence among them and some young players have started to develop very well so we’re looking at Man Utd to step forward and have a real go this year.”
Rafa Benitez : “In the first half we didn’t have a lot of problems and then we conceded a goal. Against a good team like United that is always a big problem. When you see the players working as hard as they work, you cannot blame them, if you make a mistake, you make a mistake. From my point of view it is a pity when you concede. We were defending well but we couldn’t create a lot of clear chances, if you want to win you need to score and sometimes they score first.”
