Goals from Robin van Persie and Rafael da
Silva inspired a controversial comeback against a resilient Liverpool Side.
Steven Gerrard had earlier given the home team the lead at the start of the
second half.
Prior to kick-off Anfield paid its tribute
to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough Disaster. The Kop held aloft a mosaic
reading “The Truth”, “Justice” was displayed on the Centenary and “96” made up
the Anfield Road end.
Manchester United also took part in the
tribute. Sir Bobby Charlton handed flowers over to Ian Rush, as the players of
both teams sported “96” on the back of their training jackets.
Ryan Giggs then, along with Steven Gerrard,
released 96 balloons in memory of the victims 23 years ago.
After the midweek victory in Switzerland,
Brendan Rodgers recalled senior players for the fixture against United, as
suspected. Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen, Pepe Reina, Martin Skrtel
and Daniel Agger amongst others restored their place in the lineup. There was
also a place on the bench for Spanish starlet Suso, who impressed against BSC
Young Boys.
The game commenced and the home team was
instantly on the front foot. United had to frantically clear Suarez’ shot from
an acute angle, as Gerrard was inches away from smashing home the rebounded
save.
A clever worked corner looked as if it gave
Liverpool the lead. Shelvey delivered a low cross as Steven Gerrard peeled away
from the pack and guided his shot towards goal. A deflection by Giggs sent it
crashing into the side netting.
A delightful pass by Suarez released Borini
behind the United defence, but the striker’s touch let him down as Lindegaard
came out and denied a promising attack.
In the 20th minute Gerrard
delivered an inviting cross into the box, but Agger failed to keep his balance,
tussling with Evans in the box.
Liverpool were dominating, it was only a
mater of time until a breakthrough was forced.
Suarez was next to threaten and tease the
home fans. As he skipped away from challenges a gap opened in front of him. The
Uruguayan shifted the ball to his right and attempted to finesse into the top
corner, but the striker couldn’t get enough curl on his effort as it went wide.
Raheem Sterling, a revelation in what has
been a poor start to the season for Liverpool, was hauled to the ground by
Patrice Evra, after the tricky winger spun past the Frenchman.
Gerrard brought in the resulting free kick
on the edge of the box, but Suarez couldn’t steer header towards goal.
Shelvey dispossessed Ryan Giggs on the half
way line, leaving the ball in-between the midfielder and defender Johnny Evans.
They both lunged in and contested for the ball, Evans felt the force of the
tackle and stayed down clutching his leg.
Mark Halsey reached for his back pocket and
controversially sent off the young midfielder. Replays showed Evans had in fact
dived in with both feet. There was no way Shelvey’s tackle was worse than that
of the defenders, if one was sent off, the other should’ve followed. But in
truth, the two young players ought to have received a yellow and a talking to
by the referee.
After dominating the majority of the half,
Liverpool had a tougher mountain to climb to take the lead.
Suarez almost delivered from a distant free
kick once again. The number 7’s effort appeared to be nestling into the bottom
corner, before Lindegaard pulled off an impressive save to deny the Uruguayan.
Referee Mark Halsey blew the whistle to
signal the end to the first half. Jonjo Shelvey’s red card the main talking
point.
Both managers made a substitution at the
start of the second period. 18-year-old Suso replaced Fabio Borini, while Alex
Ferguson introduced Paul Scholes for winger Nani.
The Reds started the second as conducted
themselves in the first. Except, a breakthrough was found.
Substitute Suso tricked away from Scholes
on the left and sent in a cross that found Glen Johnson on the edge of the
area. He evaded a challenge before a tackle popped the ball up to Gerrard. The
midfielder chested the ball to his left foot, where he guided the ball into the
bottom corner past Lindegaard.
Anfield’s foundations shook. Gerrard ran
towards the Kop and gestured towards the heavens in tribute of the 96.
However, the joy was sort lived, as minutes
later United pulled one back. Valencia chested the ball down in front of
Rafael, the right back finessed a wonderful effort in off the post from a tight
angle.
Suarez was then denied a penalty. Johnny
Evans appeared to have got Suarez, not the ball. The Uruguayan’s un-natural
fall may have prevented Mark Halsey from pointing to the spot.
The striker picked himself up and was close
to giving Liverpool the lead again. Lindegaard once again denied Suarez,
anxiously finger-tipping his shot past the post.
Down the other end, United countered.
Picking up on a loose pass in midfield, Valencia narrowly beat Agger and
Johnson to the ball and rushed through on goal. As he progressed into the box,
the winger was judged to have been brought down in the penalty area by Johnson.
Replays indicated it was a harsh decision, with Glen slightly clipping the
Ecuadorian’s ankle, followed by the exaggerated fall.
Proceedings got worse for the Reds. The
game was temporarily halted due to treatment for Agger, who was subsequently
stretchered off holding his ankle.
Robin van Persie stepped up to a daunting
record; the visitors had missed all their penalties this season. Despite Pepe
Reina getting a hand to the penalty, it found its way into the top corner. United
took the lead 1-2.
Inches separated Martin Kelly and an
instant equalizer. Johnson delivered an enticing cross, which Kelly headed just
past the post.
Manchester United held on to complete a
comeback.
Once again, an all to familiar sentence for
Liverpool fans: The result did not reflect the score line. The hosts deserved
much more than what they received. United were outsmarted, outplayed and outclassed,
but that amounted to nothing due to the effect of controversial refereeing
decisions.
The Liverpool players dominated for large
parts of the game, even with a player short. There are positives to take out of
the game, but the taste of feeling hard done by will linger.
On a disgraceful note, as Liverpool fans
left the ground and Manchester United fans were kept behind, disgraceful chants
broke out in the away end. Those ‘fans’ that participated, disregarded their
manager’s pleas not to do so prior to the fixture. They also undermined the
efforts of other Manchester United fans, which have brilliantly supported the
Hillsborough Justice campaign.
Sikander Najib
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