I'm Convinced, more than ever, that Manchester United have a distinct psychological edge over Liverpool. What happened in the last three or four minutes of yesterday's FA Cup match at Old Trafford (a cameo, if ever there was one, for the tradition of the Cup and what it means to everyone) proved it and, first off, let me state that Liverpool were unfortunate not to come away with a draw and a replay.

And, yet, you have to hand it to Manchester United. Deep down, regardless of the admiration they have for Liverpool, United always feel that they'll score against them; and, on the sort of day that other teams would have thrown in the towel and conceded that fate wasn't on their side, they stuck to their belief and had the confidence to grab, not only an equaliser, but a second goal that brought the least likely of victories.

Liverpool went into the lion's den and did the hard part: they scored an early goal. Michael Owen's strike was just what the doctor ordered. However, Liverpool's problem afterwards was that they were just holding out, with only the occasional breakaway chance of another goal, and, everyone knows when you're playing against Manchester United the only way to kill them off is to get a second goal. I felt Liverpool sat back a bit, and that exacerbated their problem. They sat on the game, never killed it off and, ultimately, paid the price.

United have a healthy respect for Liverpool. That's unquestioned. But they're not afraid of them. And I'm sure that even when Roy Keane hit the upright a couple of times and other shots were deflected away, and the thought crossed some minds that maybe this was the day that Liverpool would finally get retribution for all their defeats in recent seasons at Old Trafford, none of that predictable anxiety came through in their play.

And such thoughts, if they existed, obviously didn't impinge on United's belief that something could be salvaged, no matter how great the doomsday scenario appeared, and the result was that quite incredible final few minutes.

I'll be entirely honest. I thought United would get an equaliser, even as time ticked down. They have so much quality in so many different areas that even if Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke are having an off day then someone else can produce the goods. When you can take the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Paul Scholes off the bench, then that just shows the quality and strength in depth that exists. Both teams have that depth, but United - at the moment - just have that extra professionalism, the professionalism to finish a job.

Liverpool's defence was really top class, but as well as they defended - and they all played well, until the dying minutes - United's approach, especially in the second half, put a huge amount of pressure on them and made it exceptionally difficult for them to retain concentration. And that is what happened, that slightest slip in concentration by the Liverpool defence, from David Beckham's free-kick which led to Yorke's equaliser. This put the onus on the Liverpool backs to really shut up shop and ensure that United didn't score again.

I honestly didn't expect that United would get the second goal. At that stage (1-1) - and this is where I felt Liverpool lacked a real dominating figure in defence - Liverpool should have said, "okay, we've come to Old Trafford, we've played well, got a draw and a replay, let's take them to Anfield". However, they didn't tighten up the way they should have done for those last couple of minutes.

Liverpool paid the price. And United, who were set up for attack with three strikers and two wide men, proved once again why they are at the top of the class. They just never stop, and weren't content to accept (as other teams most likely would have done) that a late equaliser at least ensured survival and a replay. They went for the win, and their reward for Solskjaer's late strike is a nice home draw against Fulham. It's a lovely fixture for Fulham, but it's a great fixture for United. I'd expect them to win it.

Meanwhile, Arsenal once again turned in a thoroughly professional performance in beating Wolves at Molineaux. The holders were very much in control, and played like a team who knew they could beat Wolves. They just did enough; and if it wasn't for the goalkeeper Alex Manninger's mistake, which let Wolves back in with a Haavard Flo equaliser after Marc Overmars had opened the scoring, then they wouldn't have needed to get out of third or fourth gear to win.

I felt a bit sorry for Flo (who looks like a good catch for the money that was paid for him) and Robbie Keane. It's a very average Wolves side, especially in midfield where there was a lack of creativity and the passing was pretty poor, and the front-men didn't get any kind of service at all.

Indeed, I thought there was a bit of an irony about Arsenal's win because they were playing football in a nice stadium on a really nice pitch, the sort of pitch which allowed Arsenal to pass the ball around. It wasn't in the least daunting for them to travel there to play.

Wolves are a bit like Bolton and Sunderland: they have nice stadiums and nice pitches, so Premiership teams know they'll be able to pass the ball around and, if anything, it actually helps them.

(In an interview with Philip Reid)