Liverpool v Man U ~ Match Report

[gerrard]

LIVERPOOL 2 - 0 MANCHESTER UNITED
Sunday 25 October 2009 14:00 , Barclays Premier League

TORRES ON TARGET AS REDS SINK UNITED

Fernando Torres and David Ngog blasted Liverpool back into the title race with a 2-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday.



Liverpool: Reina, Insua, Agger, Carragher (captain), Johnson, Aurelio, Mascherano, Leiva, Benayoun, Torres, Kuyt. Subs - Cavalieri, Voronin, Babel, Ngog, Skrtel, Spearing, Degen

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea, Giggs (captain), Carrick, Scholes, Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney. Subs - Foster, Neville, Owen, , Evans


Man-of-the-Match: Jamie Carragher






Breakdown

14:01 GMT : Match Starts
1 min : Man U kick off attacking the Kop
2 mins : So much has been said about this game...but the next 90 minutes are what matter. Come on redmen!
3 mins : Berbatov feeds Rooney and he in turn finds the net...but the flag is up for offside
4 mins : Great defending by Agger prevents Valencia from racing in on goal. Insua gave it away too cheaply there
6 mins : Lucas' speculative shot deflects for the first corner of the game
7 mins : Yossi gets the better of Vidic and drills in a low cross that United just manage to get clear
10 mins : Benayoun drives at the visiting defence and almost sends Lucas in on the right hand side of the area
13 mins : Evra trips Torres. Free-kick to the Reds in a dangerous area on the right flank... easily cleared
14 mins : Carra blocks a dangerous-looking shot from Scholes
15 mins : First Booking: Patrice Evra: The Frenchman hacks Torres down once again
16 mins : Aurelio lines up a 25 yard free-kick
16 mins : Wonder save from Van Der Sar denies the Brazilian. A goalmouth scramble ensues with Torres blazing just wide of target after Kuyt had crossed to the far post
18 mins : Great tackle by Lucas on Scholes sees the Brazilian race towards goal and play in Kuyt, who drags his shot just wide of the far post
19 mins : United have been rocking in the last five minutes. We need to make our dominance count while it is so one-sided
20 mins : A warning for LFC as the away side break at pace, with Berbatov crossing low across the six yard box. Fortunately for us there is no-one there to apply the finish
21 mins : Another United attack ends with Reina saving well from a Rooney header
23 mins : Vidic loses out to Torres once again. He looks nervy against the Spaniard
24 mins : Vidic crashes into the back of Torres and is lucky not to receive a yellow card
25 mins : Mascherano fizzes a long range drive well over the top
26 mins : O'Shea hits a wayward pass out for a goalkick, perhaps illustrating how much the visitors have been on the back foot so far
29 mins : A probing run and cross from Giggs has Pepe scrambling... but in the end it flies harmlessly out of play for a goal kick
37 mins : Aurelio fires a delightful ball out to the flank for Yossi and then rampages into the box to meet the Israeli's cross and head straight at Van Der Sar. Great chance goes begging
38 mins : First Booking: Dimitar Berbatov:
42 mins : Yossi is down injured and play has been halted
43 mins : He's up again now and play resumes with United giving possession back to LFC
44 mins : Carrick releases Valencia... Reina is out of his area fast and clears to safety. Brilliant goalkeeping
14:49 GMT : Half Time Reached
15:05 GMT : Second Half Begins
46 mins : The Reds restart the contest attacking the Kop
46 mins : Agger gets flustered under pressure from Rooney...Carra is there to hook clear
47 mins : Berbatov plays the ball to the flank with typical arrogance - only problem is that no-one was there. Cue laughs of derision from the home support
51 mins : A mistake by Evra gifts the ball to Torres who in turn finds Yossi. He picks out Kuyt who should shoot but opts to cross for Benayoun who is crowded out.
52 mins : A lot happening at Anfield! Aurelio's free-kick is floated into the area where Agger arrives to flash a header just wide
54 mins : Torres breaks the offside trap down the right flank but overhits his cross after racing towards the byline
56 mins : A lightning break from United sees Rooney earn a free-kick on the edge of the box... it comes to nothing
60 mins : Free-kick to United on the right wing. Giggs to take....
61 mins : Carrick is free at the far post, but heads straight into Johnson. Corner to the visitors...
63 mins : United enjoying their best spell of the match
65 mins : GOAL! Fernando Torres: El Nino breaks the deadlock, racing onto Benayoun's pass and crashing a brilliant shot beyond Van Der Sar
67 mins : Just when you think we may have missed one chance too many, Torres comes up with another gem of a goal
70 mins : Super break from the Reds. Yossi finds Lucas who lays it on to Kuyt to fire just wide
71 mins : Gilt-edged chance. Lucas volleys way over after Aurelio's corner deflected into his path
72 mins : Michael Owen begins to warm-up. Not a good reception for the ex-red. A chorus of 'Where were you in Istanbul' and 'Once a Manc never a red' blasts out across Anfield
72 mins : First Booking: Javier Mascherano:
73 mins : Nani and Owen about to come on for Ferguson's side
74 mins : Substitution: Michael Owen for Dimitar Berbatov:
74 mins : Substitution: Nani for Paul Scholes:
75 mins : First Booking: Nemanja Vidic:
77 mins : Chance for Nani at the far post.... Easy for Reina
78 mins : Rooney lines one up...super block from Carra
79 mins : Aurelio floats a delicious ball out to Yossi who cuts in and looks like making it two, before over indulging and being stopped by the outstretched boot of Ferdinand
81 mins : Substitution: David Ngog for Fernando Torres:
84 mins : Valencia smashes a shot off the bar from a tight angle as the away side do what they always do - press late on
87 mins : First Booking: Jamie Carragher: Carra brings down Owen as he surges towards goal. It could have been worse for the skipper there
87 mins : United have a great chance 25 yards from goal
88 mins : Reina plucks what you could only describe as a back pass up from Nani's attempt
89 mins : Second Booking: Nemanja Vidic:
90 mins : Five minutes of added time. What a surprise!
90 mins : Substitution: Martin Skrtel for Yossi Benayoun:
90 mins : Second Booking: Javier Mascherano:
90 mins : GOAL! David Ngog:
15:57 GMT : Match Over

lfc.tv

**HURRAH HURRAHH HURRAHH WHAT A WAY TO BOUNCE BACK IN STYLE AND WE DIDNT BEAT THEM - WE OUTPLAYED THEM - AND WERE BY FAR THE BETTER TEAM !!

[gerrard]

..... AND THE BOSS SAYS......







Rafa was delighted by his players response to recent defeats in his 200th match in charge by beating Man utd 2-0.


"I am really pleased for the club, the players and the staff. We knew we needed to change our luck and it was a fantastic victory," he told his post-match press conference.

"Before we were talking about how it was maybe the perfect game to respond, and it proved to be the case. We needed to produce a performance against a good team in front of our fans and I think it was a fantastic performance from the players.

"It was important to score and to win, but it was also important to do it in the way we did, with the team defending well. They had some set pieces at the end but we defended well, so I am really pleased for Pepe and the defenders.

"We needed the three points for our confidence, so I think it will be a big boost for the team, especially because it is against a good side. The fans are delighted and you can see that the players are in the same mood. It is very positive, but we have a game in three days so we need to be ready.

"If we can keep the momentum, I am sure we a have good team that can win games in a row, but we have to try and win on Wednesday and then continue against Fulham.

"The players didn't want to lose. We wanted to win and show character and today was the perfect response."


"There wasn't much difference between the teams," As always, the small details can be the difference between two big teams.

"Today they had one or two chances but I think we were on top of them from the beginning, and everyone was doing his job. When Torres scored the goal it made the difference.

"For me, the team was working hard and all the fans, from first to the last, were supporting."

asked about his decision to start Torres, following his injury, Rafa said: "It was a difficult decision because he was not training, just like Gerrard.

"We needed to decide what to do and talked with him. We decided it was better to start with him. You could see he wasn't 100 per cent fit.

"You could see he was not fresh, but sometimes 80 per cent of Fernando can make a difference.

"We knew he could score, but we knew he was not 100 per cent fit and had to take care of him. We were waiting to replace him, but we knew we had to time it right because we were doing well.

"He had two light training sessions leading up to the game. The main thing, was that he was working with the physios and the fitness coach to make sure he was not at risk.

"He wasn't a risk, so we chose to start with him."

[Scousysmurf]

This has actually made my week - Congrats to all the lads, an outstanding game

[commando]

Well done REDMEN....................as for Carra yellow/red card ? Graham Poll says in the Daily Mail today that as Owen was not going directly towards goal Carra did not stop him from a direct shooting opportunity, so the correct decision was yellow. The telly cameras showed clearly that Carra had got the ball when he tackled carrick in the box. Oh and by the waywhy has nobody mentioned ferdinands blatant pull back on Torres as he shaped to score his goal. If Torres goes down it's a straight red for Rio and a pen for us? I thought Lucas was amongst a few who had a great game for us yesterday and still hold out hopes that he will be an influential player for us in years to come.

COME ON YOU REDS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gonzales]

We were brilliant yesterday, celebrations were had i can tell ya lol

I thought the ref was ok even though Rednose was moaning as usual but even he had to admit that we were the better team.

Nando's first goal was brill, surely he is the best striker in the world now

Good point on the Ferdinand pull back

I think the media were sick mind, they had our abituries all ready written

[elroja]

What a result, amazing stuff and the way we played was even better

Why cant we play like that all the time though, i hope we keep this going, we have too otherwise beating them will be wasted

Did anyone see that horrible wee gnat Neville arguing with the officials at the end of the game, what was it about? anyone know?

[craig johnson]

did not expect to win as i really dont think we are playing well - however i will take the 3 points and shut fergie up!