Manchester United - 4 Liverpool - 0 Manchester United's fixture list is long but many of the games will be short if they can start them in this manner.
Liverpool's downfall should not be attributed solely to the offence by Sami Hyypia that conceded a penalty and invited a red card in the fifth minute, even if the visitors' position then became irrecoverable.
Gerard Houllier's team were reduced to desperate measures from the kick-off, never allowed a moment to settle into the kind of redoubtable performance that had seen them win at Old Trafford in each of the last two seasons. United must have done some worthwhile brooding over the defeat by Liverpool in last month's Worthington Cup final.
United were menacing within 12 seconds on Saturday, when Paul Scholes's through ball was out of Hyypia's reach and into Ruud van Nistelrooy's path for a half-hit shot.
The same players were again operating in partnership when Scholes, with a tight turn and stabbed pass, sent the centre-forward clear. The chasing, grappling Hyypia tugged at the right sleeve of van Nistelrooy's shirt. Once the Liverpool captain had been dismissed, the Dutchman converted the penalty with ease.
For anyone with no vested interest in the outcome, the spectacle was ruined in that incident. Feeling cheated, people wanted to hold referee Mike Riley accountable for a spoiled occasion. His brief, however, is not to turn a prestigious game into a great sporting symphony. He is an administrator rather than a conductor. The rules were properly and necessarily applied to Hyypia.
Riley probably made the right decision in the 65th minute as well when the substitute Igor Biscan took a swipe, missed the ball and kicked Scholes at the edge of the area. It was a careless piece of work by the Croatian that left van Nistelrooy to be meticulous once again from 12 yards.
An organised, proud Liverpool had held the score at 1-0 for an hour but the sole, unfulfilled hope was to lose narrowly. The opportunism of the missing Michael Owen would have been useful. The side must now make up a five-point gap on Chelsea to clinch a Champions League place and his return to fitness from a back injury is essential. Fabien Barthez did not have to pull off a save on Saturday.
While Alex Ferguson detected a loss of concentration before the interval, this was not the skittish United who can make themselves vulnerable even when there is no ostensible threat.
Three years ago United, the then European Cup holders, were deposed because of a 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid at home. The clubs meet again tomorrow at the Bernabeu to begin their quarter-final tie in that tournament and Houllier thinks there is a different tenor to Ferguson's side now. "They are more clinical," he said. "Probably their defending is better than Real Madrid's. The key will be the first game."
David Beckham's cross in the 79th minute bounced beyond Van Nistelrooy's head but was thumped in by the lunging Ryan Giggs. At the very end, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fired a shot through the legs of Djimi Traore to beat a static Jerzy Dudek at his near post.
Beckham and Nicky Butt were asked only to appear as substitutes and it was the ball not the United team that sped around the pitch in the second half on Saturday. So they should be fresh tomorrow. But they will need more than just vigour at the Bernabeu.
MAN UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre (O'Shea 66), Solskjaer, Keane, Phil Neville (Beckham 66), Giggs, Scholes (Butt 79), van Nistelrooy. Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Forlan. Booked: Silvestre. Goals: van Nistelrooy 5 pen, 65 pen, Giggs 78, Solskjaer 90.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Riise, Diouf (Smicer 71), Hamann, Gerrard, Murphy (Cheyrou 80), Heskey, Baros (Biscan 6). Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Mellor. Sent Off: Hyypia (4). Booked: Diouf, Murphy, Gerrard.
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).
