One side played like champions here yesterday and it was not Manchester United. A winter and a spring may still lie between Liverpool and their first title since 1990 but in beating United for the fourth time in succession, Gerard Houllier's men performed like a team for all seasons.
Houllier's team? Well it is, of course, although for the foreseeable future Phil Thompson will be responsible for Liverpool's destiny. "I'm not the manager, no way," said Thompson after the game. "I'm just minding the shop for Gerard." Nevertheless, as caretakers go, he is clearly doing a bit more than turning off the odd light.
Manchester United were well beaten yesterday. In the early part of the game Alex Ferguson's team looked organised and tactically well-disciplined but they came away from their third league defeat of the season looking a distinctly limited company.
Ferguson's reaction to the result was calm but apocalyptic. He was not prepared to allow for his side simply having an off day and as good as accused his players of resting on laurels after seven championships in nine seasons.
"Maybe they have been up there too long," he mused. "Liverpool worked much harder than we did. They were like we were four years ago and until we address this we'll get more results like we did today."
United began without Paul Scholes and finished minus David Beckham, who gave way to Scholes for the last quarter-hour. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started the match but was replaced by Dwight Yorke soon after half-time, strengthening the feeling that the Norwegian is more super-sub than full-time destroyer.
No matter how much Ferguson shuffled his hand he could not make up for the loss of Ryan Giggs' speed and penetration to a hamstring injury, the continued uncertainties in United's defence and the overriding fact that Liverpool, on the day, were the better side.
It is rare to see a Manchester United team so poorly equipped to deal with situations in either penalty area. At one end Sami Hyypia, whose presence had been in doubt because of a sore hamstring, was almost completely in command of Ruud van Nistelrooy and the Dutch striker's various partners. At the other, the rule of Emile Heskey was absolute.
Michael Owen may have scored twice, bringing his season's total for club and country to 16 goals in 13 starts, but Heskey's unchallenged power in the air, his all-round aggression, his ability to work back in defence and the sheer force of his presence made him the game's outstanding figure.
United's defence is surely close to their credit limit. Already 20 goals have been conceded in 11 Premier League matches, a figure which last season was not reached before March. "Jaap Stam, there's only one Jaap Stam," the Kop chanted helpfully, although Ferguson could have been in no mood for a leg-pull.
Deprived by flu of Laurent Blanc, United were forced to pair Wes Brown with Mikael Silvestre, which was inviting trouble. Yet Liverpool's success was less a direct result of this weakness than the diligence shown by Dietmar Hamann and Danny Murphy in curbing the initial midfield domination of Nicky Butt, Juan Veron and Quinton Fortune.
For all their early possession Manchester United achieved little more than a short centre from Van Nistelrooy that was hooked off the line by Jamie Carragher. Owen, meanwhile, was range-finding, suggesting he would pounce sooner rather than later. So it proved.
After 27 minutes Vladimir Smicer turned a ball from Hamann into the path of Owen, United having been undone by Brown's failure to stretch in front of Heskey and intercept. Once through the gap, Owen dropped his left shoulder and curled a shot inside the right-hand post.
Another 11 minutes and Liverpool had scored again. After Brown had fouled Owen near the right-hand corner of the United penalty area Hamann tapped the free-kick square for John Arne Riise to beat Barthez off the underside of the crossbar with a left-footed shot of such power it was a wonder the bar did not break.
Riise looked less of a hero four minutes into the second half when he met Denis Irwin's cross with a sliced clearance against Beckham, whose goal promised another of United's noted revivals. But within two minutes Heskey had beaten Brown and the advancing Fabien Barthez to Riise's long throw-in and nodded the ball on to give Owen a free header into the net..
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer (Berger 69), Owen (Fowler 69), Heskey. Subs Not Used: Redknapp, Kirkland, Wright. Goals: Owen 32, Riise 39, Owen 51.
MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, Irwin (O'Shea 85), Beckham (Scholes 77), Butt, Veron, Fortune, van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer (Yorke 52). Subs Not Used: Phil Neville, Carroll. Goal: Beckham 50.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
