The Red Battle | Match Analysis & Player Ratings

When two teams with such a fierce rivalry built over such a long period of time and aggravated by the honours that both these team have won – 18 Premiership titles apiece, a combined 18 FA Cup and 8 European Cup titles leading to a total of 58 trophies for the both of them and fuelled by infamous statements like the one made by Sir Alex Ferguson clash in the oldest competition in footballing history and owing to the fact that whosoever has come out on top in this encounter has gone on to win the tournament, it was expected of the two teams to be involved in an interesting match, just like last time when the Red Devils’ Bulgarian legend Dimitar Berbatov scored a hat-trick after Liverpool’s charismatic captain and playmaker Steven Gerrard had got his team back from a two-goal deficit through two well-taken spot kicks. Yes, the match was made of individual brilliance, Berbatov’s bicycle-kick-goal still a major contender for goal of the season but it was entertaining nonetheless.

But you don’t always get what you hope for. A bit of officiating controversy in the first minute of this FA Cup Third Round fixture led to a penalty and the only goal of the match, 37-year-old Ryan Giggs the scorer. Yes, Berbatov went down too easily. Yes, some other day and some other referee would have looked away. But it was stupid of Daniel Agger to put a leg in after he had very easily allowed the Bulgarian to bring the ball under control. It was a late response and he should have reacted quicker and not allowed the league’s current top scorer to calmly receive Fletcher’s pass. And this is where Liverpool were missing their vice-captain and veteran centre-back Jamie Carragher. With 650 club appearances to his name, the 32-year-old could have provided the anchoring the Anfield-based club were looking for.

But it wasn’t just the Dane’s fault and that would become clear in the minutes after the goal. Both Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher were easily floating balls behind the Liverpool backline which would drop for the onrushing wingers and strikers. The primary reason why it was so exposed was down to Gerrard and Lucas, both of whom were providing too much space for their opponents to roam around in and look up and find their teammates. And Gerrard’s sending off spelt disaster for the returning King Kenny. Ask any Liverpool supporter and they would say a red was harsh but when you go in with both feet and studs-showing, you’re always asking for trouble. Ryan Babel, who was on the bench then, expressed his disappointment after the match in a bold and full of hatred (read “emotional”) Twitter message and several Lillipudlians gladly retweeted it, one among them none other than the son of caretaker-manager Dalglish himself but all referee Howard Webb did was discourage such malicious tackles and desperate attempts to win the ball when clearly his compatriot Carrick had gone for the ball first.

Everyone expected Manchester United to make full use of their numeric advantage and that looked like the case when out-of-form centre-back Jonny Evans got a free header and almost scored for the first time for his club. But it was more because of some lazy marking display from the Argentinian winger Maxi Rodríguez. They say ten men take greater responsibility and it began to ring true after the half-time break, the Merseyside club showing more intent and energy while going forward. Dalglish showed at the hour mark why once he had the capability to take on double duties of playing as well as managing when he replaced both his wingers with two fresh players, Dutch-national Ryan Babel and former England U18 captain Jonjo Shelvey and it was the first time in the match that I actually saw Raul Meireles, as he made his way off the pitch.

United’s attempt at a more possession-based game to yield a second goal didn’t work out too well for them, as they were just too slow and predictable in the build-up; Shelvey robbing the defence of the ball, Anderson squandering it away and earning a yellow trying to get it back and handing Fábio Aurélio the chance to have a shot on goal; and basically just running into hurdles all over the pitch. The only impressive aspect of the Red Devils’ attack was the partnership between French left-back Patrice Evra and Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs who constantly troubled the Liverpool defence with their innumerous crosses but Agger and Škrtel were up to the task, rarely allowing any of the home players to come in contact with the out-swinging ball. 18-year-old Martin Kelly did an amazing job at right-back in place of Glen Johnson, who was absent because his wife had gone into labour.

Fernando Torres still remains a shadow of his former self but he looked content when he was substituted for N’Gog, something he wasn’t under Roy Hodgson’s tenure at the Kop. Young Shelvey showed that he had the fire in him but his 81^st-minute-attempt to do a (standing) Beckham wasn’t well received by some of his capable-of-taking-good-headers teammates. Also for the umpteenth time this season, Ferguson’s men failed to close the game, hanging on to a single goal lead for an hour and a half which could have easily disappeared with Smalling’s late substitution as there is no possible way for a centre-back to adjust to the pace of the game so quickly. And now before you get bored (which I believe most of you already have and reached this part with the help of fast scrolling via the mouse or the Page Down button), here are the player ratings.

Manchester United	Rating		Liverpool
Tomasz Kuszczak	6	7	Pepe Reina
Rafael Da Silva	7	7	Martin Kelly
Rio Ferdinand	8	5	Martin Škrtel
Jonny Evans (84’)	7	5	Daniel Agger
Patrice Evra	7	6	Fábio Aurélio
Nani	5	4	(60’) Raul Meireles
Michael Carrick	6	6	Lucas Leiva
Darren Fletcher (63’)	5	3	(32’) Steven Gerrard
Ryan Giggs	7	4	(60’) Maxi
Javier Hernández (75’)	6	5	Dirk Kuyt
Dimitar Berbatov	6	5	(77’) Fernando Torres
Anderson (63’)	6	6	(60’) Jonjo Shelvey
Michael Owen (75’)	7	6	(60’) Ryan Babel
Chris Smalling (84’)	-	-	(77’) David N'Gog