Manchester United vs Liverpool Match Report

In what could be the biggest match in Manchester United history, they will not get a bigger opponent than arch rivals Liverpool. Macnhester United’s performance this season has been somewhat inconsistent. And the loss of Antonio Valencia due to an ankle injury turn things from bad to worse for the eighteen time League Champions.

Arch rival Liverpool’s new era under Roy Hodgson has not convinced their fans just yet.However, this Sunday the momentum seems to be in Liverpool’s side after they won  their last match with a convincing 4-1 victory in the Europa League. Another win for Liverpool will increase stability in the team On the other hand, Manchester United also need a win to get back on track, and a loss at Old Trafford could kill their chance of winning the title this season. A win is a must here for both teams, and it cannot get any bigger than this.

The first ten minutes saw a dominant spell by Manchester United who kept pressing Liverpool in their own half. The first best chance of the game came in the fifteenth minutes after Berbatov and Rooney did a very nice one-two play before releasing Nani free in the penalty box. Liverpool, however did well to hassle their opponents and Nani’s shot in the end went off target.

Liverpool’s Glen Johnson gave the team the first shot of the game. After receiving a pass from the corner, the England defender tried a shot with his left foot, but the shot disappointingly went wide off the target.Fernando Torres then tried to fire another shot for his team, but the shot sadly was too weak to do any harm for Van Der Saar’s goal.

Referee Howard Webb has made himself the center of attention for both the players and the spectators after turning down some foul appeals, which judging from the replay, the fouls done by Nani and Konchesky to each other, deserved a yellow card.

Liverpool tried to dominate their opponents, but their delivery into the box has been more than disappointing. Those poor delivery could haunt Liverpool. On the forty first minutes, a quality delivery ironically came at the other end from Ryan Giggs. Giggs send the ball beautifully straight into Dimitar Berbatov‘s head who was poorly marked by Fernando Torres, and the Bulgarian headed the ball calmly into the goal. 1-0 to United.

A few minutes later, the referee once again was lenient to blow the whistle this time for a hand ball by Jamie Carragher. The referee perhaps decided to let him go because it was not an intentional handball. Manchester United use Liverpool’s confusion into their advantage by creating another change, however Wayne Rooney’s shot from outside the box went just off target. At half time, the score ended 1-0 for United.

At the second half, Lieverpol’s attack were still disappointing as their passes always failed to connect at the crucial time. On the other side of the field Manchester United’s attack looks absolutely menacing with a shot that rattled the bar from Nani

Just when you think that shot would give Liverpool a wake up call, it was United who surprisingly increase their lead.  After receiving a cross from Nani, Dimitar Berbatov controlled the ball with an exquisite touch and scored his second goal with an amazing bicycle kick that came out of nowhere. 2-0 for United.

The goal seemed to have made United to get complacent and Jonny Evans failed to tackle the ball successfully, and brought Fernando Torres down inside the box instead. Steven Gerrard this time successfully convert the chance from the penalty spot. 2-1 the score.

A series of fouls that follows after that seemed to have heated up the game for both teams. The referee failed to see a blatant foul from Christian Poulsen who could have well deserved at least a yellow card. While United kept appealing for the foul their players ironically get some yellow card for themselves.

Another yellow card was brandished for John O’Shea who pushed Fernando Torres just outside the box. In reality that could have been worse because he looked to be the last man. But that didn’t seem to matter for Liverpool as Steven Gerrard‘s free kick has successfully reached the back of the net.  Liverpool finally got their equalizer after two out of the training ground set-piece plays. 2-2.

The tempo seemed to get slower after the equalizer and both managers responded by bringing on a sub. Liverpool’s Daniel Agger was brought in for Martin Skertl, while Manchster United’s ‘Kiko’ Macheda entered the field for Ryan Giggs.

On the 83rd minute Manchester United have finally successfully regain their lead through their number nine man. Dimitar Berbatov finally earned his first hat-trick for the club after heading John O’Shea’s cross into the back of the net. With that cross, John O’shea has also successfully atoned for his earlier mistake. Good riddance for both players. 3-2 for United.

Sir Alex Ferguson then decided to sub his hat-trick hero and Ryan Giggs soon after the goal. Darron Gibson replaced Ryan Giggs while Brazilian youngster, Anderson, went in for Berbatov who finally played his first game for United after long spell in the sidelines due to injury. The crowd gave a well-deserved standing ovation for Berbatov for his performance.

The score stands 3-2 until the final whistle. Manchester United will hopefully get back on track with this important win, while this loss would hand another set-back for Liverpool. Nevertheless it was yet another entertaining fixture in Old Trafford. Final Score Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool.

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