Fernando Torres eased the pressure on Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez as his sublime strike inspired a 2-0 win over arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Benitez had endured a miserable week as Liverpool's losing run extended to four matches, their worst spell for 22 years, but Spanish striker Torres gave his compatriot a much-needed boost with a lethal second half finish before David Ngog's stoppage time goal secured a third successive win against United.
A chaotic closing period also saw both sides finish with 10 men as Nemanja Vidic was sent off for hauling down Dirk Kuyt - the United defender's third red card in his last three matches against Liverpool - and then Javier Mascherano was dismissed for a clumsy foul on Edwin van der Sar.
After being widely written off as also-rans ahead of the Anfield showdown, Liverpool have closed the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to six points and stopped United regaining top spot, as well as condemning the champions to their first defeat in 12 matches.
It was no more than Liverpool deserved for the kind of intelligent and passionate display that has been missing too often this season. With Steven Gerrard's failure to recover from a groin injury in time to feature forced Benitez to gamble on Torres's fitness as he tried to avoid presiding over a fifth successive defeat and Liverpool's worst run for 56 years.
With so much at stake, it was hardly surprising that the pre-match fans' protest march against Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who sat together in the directors' box, didn't carry on in the stadium.
But the fierce rivalry between the clubs means that no slip is too small to be gloated over. United's travelling fans threw beach balls onto the Anfield pitch before kick-off in celebration of Darren Bent's infamous goal for Sunderland last weekend. although they had their thunder stolen by the Kop, who unleashed their own barrage of inflatable balls moments later.
Benitez would have appreciated Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow's declaration that the Spaniard's job was safe, but those words would count for nothing if United effectively killed off their title challenge.
Kuyt shoud have forced van der Sar into action soon after but shot wide after Lucas's pass picked out the Dutch forward in yards of space. It took United 20 minutes to piece together their first really incisive attack as Rooney met Antonio Valencia's cross with a header that Jose Reina clutched low to his right.
Liverpool were showing the greater urgency and Aurelio tested van der Sar again, this time with a far-post header from Yossi Benayoun's cross, but his effort was too close to the United keeper.
United were content to maintain their surprisingly cautious approach again after the break, while centre backs Vidic and Rio Ferdinand singled out Torres for some crunching challenges. Valencia was within a whisker of equalising in the 84th minute when he crashed a fierce strike against the crossbar. United must have realised it wasn't to be their day when Jamie Carragher escaped with a booking after hauling down Owen as he burst through on goal in the closing moments.
Their misery was complete when Vidic was sent off in the last minute for a grabbing Kuyt and hauling him to the turf as he threatened to break clear.
English Premier League results
Played on Sunday:
-- Bolton 3 (Lee 16, Cahill 27, Klasnic 86) Everton 2 (Saha 32, Fellaini 55)
-- Liverpool 2 (Torres 65, Ngog 90) Manchester United 0
Played Saturday
-- Birmingham 2 (Ridgewell 37, McFadden 48) Sunderland 1 (Dann 82-og)
-- Burnley 1 (Fletcher 4) Wigan 3 (Rodallega 11, 51, Boyce 76)
-- Chelsea 5 (Givet 20-og, Lampard 48, 59-pen, Essien 52, Drogba 64) Blackburn 0
-- Hull 0 Portsmouth 0
-- Tottenham 0 Stoke 1 (Whelan 86)
-- Wolverhampton 1 (Ebanks-Blake 83-pen) Aston Villa 1 (Agbonlahor 79).
Comments
Comments are closed.