PICTURES

WEBMASTER'S COMMENT

"This occasion is always special and this match lived up to expectations. Irwin's penalty put Utd in the driving seat in the first half but there was always the fear Liverpool would get a late equaliser, Scholes made sure they wouldn't."

MATCH REPORT

By Mark Bradley, PA Sport

A dominant centre-back has been at the top of Liverpool's shopping list since the start of the season. They may have to extend it to include a new goalkeeper after Brad Friedel's calamitous performance at Old Trafford. Friedel was by no means the only Liverpool player who failed to rise to the occasion against Manchester United, with Michael Owen almost invisible as he was starved of service by a ponderous supply line from midfield.

Yet after surviving two early mistakes, the 'keeper flapped at a corner from David Beckham, succeeded only in punching the ball into the air. It hit Jason McAteer's arm as it dropped, and Denis Irwin converted the ensuing penalty. Assured performances by Gary Neville, moved to centre-back to cope with Owen's pace, and Jaap Stam ensured there was no way back for Liverpool in a stormy match which produced six bookings in the first half alone.

And the visitors' creaky defence was caught out yet again with 11 minutes left as Paul Scholes' strike sealed victory after Andy Cole had finally been called off the bench to invigorate the United attack.

Cole had been ignored at the start in favour of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while Phil Neville came in for Henning Berg to allow his brother to crucially switch inside, and Scholes also earned a well-deserved recall for Jesper Blomqvist. Changes were hardly surprising given United's crushing 3-0 defeat at Highbury last Sunday, while Liverpool bosses Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier brought in four players following their own embarrassing 3-3 draw at home to Charlton.

Paul Ince was back, while Karlheinz Riedle started in place of Robbie Fowler, but even the introduction of two new full-backs in McAteer and Stig Bjornebye for Steve Staunton and Vegard Heggem failed to stiffen Liverpool's resolve at the back. The brittle Liverpool defence at first creaked and groaned, then bent under the pressure, before finally breaking in two - due mainly to Friedel's failure to dominate his penalty area.

Despite one good save from Roy Keane, the American had two fortunate escapes when he miskicked a clearance and then let a Solskjaer shot slip under his body and go just wide. But his luck soon ran out, as he failed to clear the corner which led to McAteer's handball and the calm side-footed penalty from Irwin that gave United the lead.

If ever a fixture of this magnitude and tradition needed extra spice, Ferguson had provided it by calling former Old Trafford favourite Ince a "big-time Charlie" in his TV documentary last night. And the tackles flew in from all angles in the first period. But for all the blood and thunder, both sides lacked width to escape the congested midfield, and it was not until five minutes before the break that the chances flowed at either end.

Peter Schmeichel, who had earlier pushed a Jamie Redknapp free-kick around the post, did even better when an Ince shot was deflected, while Gary Neville timed a tackle on Owen to perfection. After the break, Liverpool were carved open yet again as Ryan Giggs set up Solskjaer, who steered his shot past Friedel but also past the far post.

Schmeichel still had to be alert to save a deflected effort from Patrik Berger, and Phil Neville stepped in neatly to dispossess Owen in the penalty area, as Liverpool started to take control of the midfield. Still there were flashpoints, especially an angry exchange between Redknapp and David Beckham that presumably had little to do with their pop star partners' relative musical talents.

But when Liverpool did have the ball in the net after 68 minutes when Schmeichel spilled a shot from Berger, Riedle's tap-in was ruled offside.

United assistant manager Brian Kidd raged at his side from the touchline, seemingly to maintain their concentration, as Liverpool pressed, but Friedel still had to be alert to clear on the edge of the area as Yorke broke clear.

Cole was finally given his chance midway through the second half, as he replaced Solskjaer to rapturous applause, while Fowler was unsurprisingly introduced soon afterwards for Riedle. Yet it was Scholes who sealed victory with 11 minutes left. Liverpool were left exposed at the back as they piled forward for a corner, and Yorke capitalised on a half-clearance to send Cole racing through the left-hand channel.

He took his time before crossing, and the ball eluded everyone until it fell to Scholes on the edge of the area, and the England midfielder produced a sizzling shot which gave Friedel no chance as it went into the top corner. Cole, who clearly had a point to prove to his manager, hit the side-netting soon afterwards, while Scholes somehow shot wide from the edge of the area after the former Newcastle striker again tormented the Liverpool back four before shooting wide late on.

"You've sold your soul to Sky," taunted the Liverpool fans at the end. United's supporters did not care - by that time, they had beaten their biggest Premiership rivals and gone third above them on goal difference.

POST MATCH REACTIONS

A burning desire to erase the memory of Sunday's humiliating 3-0 defeat by Arsenal was Manchester United's motivation behind their 2-0 victory over Liverpool.

United defender Gary Neville admitted: "It's not nice coming off a performance like Sunday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were not nice days for us. Tonight, we've gone a little bit of the way to putting that right. But we're not there yet, we've still got a lot to do as a team."

Neville, moved to centre-back to cope with the pace of Liverpool danger man Michael Owen, added: "We've improved tonight from Sunday, that's all we could have done really.

"We let ourselves down, we let everybody down with the way we performed on Sunday. Full credit to Arsenal, who played well, but I don't think we showed anything like the commitment or the desire that we have tonight."

United went ahead with Denis Irwin's first-half penalty but were forced to defend desperately as Liverpool fought back.

"That's something we've been working on," revealed Neville. "We know that teams like Liverpool and Arsenal are going to have periods of pressure against us. They're good sides with good players, and we've not been soaking those periods of pressure up in the last month or so. Our forwards will always create chances and score goals for us. We've just got to give them a platform."

TEAMS

Manchester United: Schmeichel, P Neville, Irwin, G Neville, Stam, Keane, Scholes, Beckham, Giggs, Solskjaer, Yorke.
Subs: Cole for Solskjaer, Butt for Scholes.
Scorers: Irwin (19 pen), Scholes (78).

Liverpool: Friedel, McAteer, Carragher, Babb, Bjornebye, McManaman, Redknapp, Ince, Berger, Riedle, Owen.
Subs: Fowler for Riedle.

Referee: S Lodge