Liverpool 0 Manchester Utd 1:When the country starts to run short of conversation it may have to think of something other than the contest for the Premiership. After this stoppage-time victory who can talk of the exacting fixture list ahead of Manchester United? If they are yet to go to Chelsea, Chelsea themselves must visit Arsenal. The sole advantage worth discussing is United's lead.
With a game in hand at Manchester City, the champions could cut it to six points. United have gone wildly off course just once, in that mystifying defeat at West Ham, and this messy yet stubborn success at Anfield looked like a pledge never again to be so addled as they were on that December afternoon.
Alex Ferguson said on Saturday his players had been lucky against Liverpool and, a week before, Fulham. Graciousness comes readily to those who top the table but it was also calculated to deepen the anguish of Jose Mourinho by confirming that the Portuguese is dead right to think everything goes United's way at present. Perhaps, too, Ferguson, with no cause to be argumentative, had refrained from telling the whole truth.
Dominant as Liverpool were, especially in the second half, they didn't create enough chances in the visitors' goalmouth. The pair of strikers, who actually gave good displays, seldom got into the heart of the penalty area. Dirk Kuyt typically drops deep and Craig Bellamy illustrated again why Graeme Souness saw him as a quasi-winger at Newcastle.
The pair combined perfectly when the Dutchman put the Welshman through in the 47th minute but a poor first touch and unfortunate bobble ensured Bellamy's shot was tame. Peter Crouch, a substitute, had the best chance of all. He refrained from heading a Kuyt cross after 88 minutes, taking the ball down on his chest and hitting a drive that was not quite strong or accurate enough to beat a goalkeeper of Edwin van der Sar's calibre.
However agitated they were, United always had an answer. With Nemanja Vidic in the same dire form he showed at the FA Cup replay with Reading, others had to cover for the Serb. His centre-back partner, Rio Ferdinand, got through the work of two men. The readiness to muck in will have to be displayed again while Paul Scholes is suspended.
Angry that Xabi Alonso was tugging him, the midfielder whirled round in the 85th minute and took a swing of such extravagance that the Spaniard cannot even have felt the breeze of this aimless haymaker. Scholes could try to argue that it was a mere gesture of annoyance but the referee, Martin Atkinson, classed it as the type of violent conduct for which the United player, more renowned for a history of mistimed tackles, has no aptitude whatsoever.
With that exception, the visitors showed a great deal of professionalism and that quality was significant at the goal. Having been awarded a disputed foul towards the left, United did everything conceivable to capitalise and it would be glib to refer solely to a goalkeeping error. Cristiano Ronaldo made the free-kick dip sharply towards the feet of Pepe Reina and at the last second the substitute Louis Saha made a run across the face of the Spaniard to distract him from making a clean catch. Another substitute, John O'Shea, fired home in front of the Kop.
The celebrations then, and at the full-time whistle, were impassioned and no one attempted to pretend that this was just another three points.
United's struggle with Chelsea does not prevent them from maintaining the more historic rivalries and Rafael Benitez, in his third season at Anfield, is still to register a Premiership win over United. There can be no despair when Liverpool are well-placed to knock the holders, Barcelona, out of the Champions League tomorrow. The sheer power of the midfield will be crucial. Scholes, sharp and aggressive, had been the sole figure who could compete in that area for United and, even with Mohamed Sissoko at his most erratic, Liverpool were crushing there.
The forcefulness brought no goals and, in a typical, early episode, Bellamy dispossessed Vidic and ran to the byline before failing to pick out Kuyt, unmarked in front of goal, with the cut-back. While Benitez continues to plot the bolstering of his attack in the summer, Ferguson will be reflecting on his porous midfield and preparing further efforts to extract Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich.
In some senses United have gone slightly awry. It has been a long while since they gave an outstanding display, Scholes is now banned and Henrik Larsson looks intent on keeping his word and returning to Helsingborgs next week.
Even so, United could remain short of their best and still have the means to regain the title.
Guardian Service
