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Listen to the roar of approval in Manchester. Listen to the silence of depression in Merseyside. As emphatic Liverpool were nine months ago, that was Manchester United today.
Six straight wins, third on the table. That is Manchester United’ fortune, thanks to goals from Rooney, Mata and van Persie, but most notably, the saves from David de Gea.
Liverpool for their part, had plenty of chances, but failed through a combination of their own ineptitude, plus the opposition goalkeeper’s brilliance.
Where now for both teams? It’s another week off for the freshened Manchester United, as they next travel to Aston Villa.
Liverpool have to face Arsenal at home next weekend, but before that, they have the League Cup tie at Bournemouth, who are flying high in the Championship this season, and well on track for a Premier League promotion by season’s end. Given the respective form of both sides, you just cannot imagine how Liverpool can win that game.
FINAL SCORE:
Manchester United 3
Liverpool 0
It is the headline feature of the English Premier League season, where the resurgent Manchester United are at home against struggling Liverpool. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 00:15 (AEST) on Monday morning.
March 16, 2014 will be forever marked as one of the darkest days in Manchester United’s history – or so told by a man no less than Sir Alex Ferguson.
After spending the better part of 28 years to build the football behemoth that is Manchester United Football Club, Ferguson had to endure the sight of his beloved Red Devils being outplayed by the old foes from down the M62 – the same foes that he successfully “knocked off the perch”.
Adding further insult was that Ferguson himself was largely to blame – he of course overseeing the David Moyes and Manchester United marriage and divorce within nine months.
In those nine months, gone was United’s ability to compete for a league title, as well as their lucrative spot in the Champions League.
Times were different then for Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers, too. Whereas Rodgers’ battles against Ferguson were marked with two defeats, the manner of victory at Old Trafford last March heralded what increasingly looked a season of triumph at Anfield.
Nine months later, the fortunes of these two old foes cannot be more diametrically opposed.
Put the respective position of both teams to one side. Manchester United – the club stumbling to seventh spot last season – flourished the chequebook to acquire some of football’s brightest attacking talents. Liverpool – the former giants who went within a whisker of reclaiming England’s title – had to make do with a contingent of promising up-and-comers, while their superstar Uruguayan Luis Suarez looked to new pastures.
Look at the results now. United, without Champions League football, may well have it again come May. Liverpool, with Champions League up until last Wednesday, are headed towards a finish that could return them to the midtable anonymity they’ve become accustomed to.
Robin van Persie’s double at Southampton over the weekend may have papered the cracks over what was otherwise a “lucky” win – as van Gaal put it – for United, but the ability to capitalise on a few moments of coherent and fluid play is a formula likely to catapult United’s top-four charge this season.
The Dutchman should start again, ably supplied by the likes of Juan Mata, Angel di Maria and Wayne Rooney. With United only having to play one game a week regularly this season, van Gaal will see little reason for change in his attacking formation.
What change may likely come is a reliance on a stronger defensive front, with Marouane Fellaini likely to make way for either the defensive midfielder Darren Fletcher or the centre back Jonny Evans.
For Liverpool, this game was always likely to be dictated based on what happened in the Champions League. From this, where does Brendan Rodgers go to save a season where little has gone right? With Suarez’s exit and Daniel Sturridge’s continued absence, Rodgers has had no choice but to place unhealthy expectations on Raheem Sterling, while Steven Gerrard’s talismanic abilities seem restricted to the odd set piece.
The real sufferance for Rodgers comes at the back, where Simon Mignolet and his defensive line continue to offer folly aplenty.
All said, this is a derby, and the greatest one of all. Yet as that did little to help Manchester United last March, so it must be for Liverpool this time around.
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