Liverpool earned a hard fought win over arch-rival Manchester United to find themselves on the top of the English Premier League table after first three matches. The defending champion found themselves on the losing side after some poor display on the field as Liverpool took the lead in the early minutes of this high-voltage face-off.
The stage was set at the historic Anfiled for an intriguing encounter between the oldest rivals of English football with an electric atmosphere prevailing since much before the kick-off time. As the two teams lined up for a great match, Manchester United suffered a major set-back as they found their ace striker Wayne Rooney ruled out owing to some injury concerns.
The match began in the right pace as the United players made their intentions of grabbing an early goal very clear. But it was the home team who got an early advantage much to the delight of the home crowd. They took the lead as early as in the 3rd minute when an unmarked Daniel Sturridge found the back of the net from a Steven Gerrard flag-kick deflected by Daniel Agger. Having conceded an early goal, United pressed forward in search of an equalizer, but failed to manage any clear look at the Liverpool goal. Things went from bad to worse for United as their promising defender Phil Jones limped off the field with an ankle injury in the 37th minute. The two teams went into the lemon break with the scoreline of 1-0 in favour of the home side.
As the second half began, United players began to show some urgency in the midfield. Tom Cleverley began to spend much more time on the ball as United surged ahead to pull off the deficit. However the Liverpool stood tall against all sorts of United attack with Ben Johnson displaying a spirited soccer in both the defense and the attack. As time went on United manger David Moyes became desperate and injected some fresh legs in the form of Mexican Javier Hernandez and Portuguese star Nani replacing under-performing Ashley Young and veteran Ryan Giggs, who also had a bad day by his standards. The substitution paid off almost immediately when Nani tested the Liverpool keeper from outside the box, only to find the ball pushed away to safety.
As the final whistle went off, the home crowd erupted in joy and relief of finding their red army sitting at the top of the premier league table. It wasn’t that great for David Moyes as it was his first defeat as the manager of the Red-devils in a professional game since replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm. With a draw against Chelsea last week, followed up by a defeat in the hands of the arch-rivals, Moyes has got an up-hill task of regrouping this United side as they gear up for the UEFA Champions League starting off within a few days.
Tags: Alex Ferguson Ashley Young Ben Johnson Chelsea Daniel Agger Daniel Sturridge David Moyes EPL Javier Hernandez liverpool Liverpool vs Manchester United Liverpool wins against Manchester United Liverpool- United match result Manchester United Steven Gerrard Tom Cleverley
