Man Utd v Liverpool

[ianrush]

So gleich gehts los, die Aufstellungen sind :

Man Utd :

Howard, G, Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Keane, P, Neville, Ronaldo, Saha, Giggs ... Subs: Carroll, Butt, Bellion, Djemba-Djemba, Solskjaer

Liverpool FC :

Dudek, Finnan, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Riise, Owen, Kewell ... Subs: Baros, Heskey, Smicer, Cheyrou, Luzi

Referee: A D'Urso (Essex)

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Man United-Liverpool 65' MORE FIREPOWER: Solskjaer replaces O'Shea while earlier it was Smicer on for Finnan on the hour mark! Make that one substitution per team

Man United-Liverpool 63' DANNY MURPHY CONVERTS!! His high hard shot into the right-hand corner leaves no chance for Howard on the penalty and after breaking out of their defensive shell, Liverpool take the advantage!!

Man United-Liverpool 62' GARY NEVILLE TAKES DOWN GERRARD!! A clear penalty!!

Man United-Liverpool 58' Story of the day: Giggs with a potentially dangerous free kick from the right wing 30m out and his inswinging cross goes over everyone's head and out...

Man United-Liverpool 54' Kewell on a tear, but Silvestre rushes back to shut down the Australian...

Man United-Liverpool 50' Dangerous cross for United... the ball goes through the outstretched arms of Dudek to a waiting Cristiano Ronaldo but Saha falls on the Liverpool keeper, who's shaken up on the play...

Man United-Liverpool 47' Murphy shaken up after a foul by Fletcher... No substitutions for either side so far..

Man United-Liverpool 16:49 Gallagher brings down Ronaldo but United were out of time... A few bursts of speed from the Portuguese, some hints of danger from Saha and not much else to write home about. If you're an optimistic, you would call that a tactical first half... A pessimist would say it was boring.

Man United-Liverpool 45+2' Saha streaks into the area but his cross is headed away by Henchoz!

Man United-Liverpool 37' Insomnia? Trouble sleeping at night? We have the antidote! Start your VCR and replay this one...

Man United-Liverpool 35' Ronaldo's cross flagged by Dudek without a hitch...

Man United-Liverpool 32' Henchoz can't get Saha off the ball, but Gerrard does... the old-fashioned way... The shove does not amuse Mr. Riley who reaches for his little book...

Man United-Liverpool 27' More theatrics from Ronaldo, who dribbles past one, two players before losing it...

Man United-Liverpool 26' Riise's shot on the free kick sails well wide...

bearbeitet 24. April 2004 von ianrush

[ianrush]

MURPHY SCORES AS REDS WIN AT OLD TRAFFORD

Paul Rogers 24 April 2004

liverpoolfc.tv

A Danny Murphy penalty after 61 minutes was enough to send Liverpool's push for next season's Champions League well and truly back on track.

After going 289 Premiership minutes without a goal, the Reds finally found the next when Murphy slotted home his penalty, given away by none other than Gary Neville.

After collecting just a solitary point from their last three matches against Arsenal, Charlton and Fulham, both Gerard Houllier and Steven Gerrard were keen to stress before the game that they simply had to take something from this match. There was talk of a draw being good enough but while a point would have indeed been a decent result against a team who started the match 21 points ahead of the Reds, three points and a morale-boosting win changes the picture completely. United threw everything and the kitchen sink at Liverpool's goal in the final 15 minutes but despite our defence leading a charmed life at times, United simply couldn't score.

Liverpool more than matched the home side from the first minute to the last and some sterling displays all throughout the team ensured we returned to Merseyside having extended our lead in fourth place to three points. Newcastle might have two games in hand but with one of those against Liverpool on the final day of the season, you wouldn't bet against Gerard Houllier's team holding on to the position they currently occupy.

Final Score: Manchester United 0 Liverpool 1

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Vierter Platz wir kommen. Schade ist nur, dass Villa ihr Spiel noch in letzter Minute gewonnen hat. Mit den drei Punkten konnte keiner rechnen, und dann noch ein Sieg gegen United in dieser Situation ! Einfach perfekt !

bearbeitet 24. April 2004 von ianrush

[Cristiano Ronaldo]

wirklich zum Heulen das Match, äusserst schwache Partie von beiden Seiten, wobei mit MU noch das aktivere Team war.

Liverpool ist wirklich gut hinten gestanden und bis auf die letzten 15 Minuten konnten wir leider kaum große Chancen herausspielen.

Auch wenn die Leistung nicht unbedingt gut war, aber so ein Spiel zu verlieren ist wirklich bitter. Liverpool hat ja wirklich kaum etwas nach vorne gemacht bzw. zusammengebracht, die haben ja nicht einen guten Torversuch herausgespielt.

Nach der ersten Hälfte hab ich mir noch gedacht, dass die uns höchstens per Corner bzw. Freisstoss gefährlich werden könnten.

Derzeit sind wir echt nicht vom Glück begünstigt: Zum einen das ewige Verletzungspech, dann die dummen Ligavorstandsentscheidungen bezüglich Spielersperren, dazu falsche Schiedsrichterentscheidungen (z.B. Champ.L. gegen Porto :aaarrrggghhh:) und auch im Abschluss fehlt es uns echt an Glück.

Der Doppel-Stangenschuss von Giggs hat das ja wiedermal eindrucksvoll bewiesen.

Trotzalledem will ich mich aber nicht auf irgendwas hinausreden, wir haben einfach scheisse gespielt leider.

Die einzigen die mir etwas positiv aufgefallen sind bei uns waren erste Hälfte Ronaldo (dem im 2ten Durchgang leider nicht mehr allzuviel gelungen ist) bzw. Silvestre, der fast alle seine Zweikämpfe gewonnen hat , sehr bemüht war und kaum Fehler gemacht hat.

edit: Giggs hat auch nicht so schlecht gespielt, von ihm ist wenigstens ein paar mal ein wenig Gefahr ausgegangen.

bearbeitet 24. April 2004 von Cristiano Ronaldo

[Starostyak]

Das ist mal wieder typisch - heute kommt alles zusammen. Einfach nur beschissen...gut, dass ich von dem Spiel nichts mitbekommen hab, sonst wär ich eventuell an die Decke gegangen.

[ianrush]

HOULLIER: THAT WIN WAS FOR THE FANS

Paul Eaton 24 April 2004

liverpoolfc.tv

Gerard Houllier today dedicated his side's fantastic victory at Old Trafford to the club's jubilant supporters.

The Liverpool manager was in buoyant mood after Danny Murphy's second half penalty secured three priceless points for the Reds, and ensured their Champions League destiny remains in their own hands.

Murphy settled the contest midway through the second half when he netted from the spot after Steven Gerrard has been sent tumbling in the area, and Houllier admits he was thrilled to give the travelling Kopites something to celebrate.

He said: "I would like to dedicate that victory to the supporters. Those who were here really got behind us today and I know how special a victory at Old Trafford is to them.

"We produced a controlled and composed performance to win the game. We never panicked. We were only under real pressure for about ten minutes late on when they hit the post and could have scored. Apart from that spell, I never felt we were unable to control them.

"We had a plan today and it worked well. When you play here you need legs, discipline and stamina and we had them all.

"It's ironic that we scored the winner from the penalty spot considering how much bad luck we've had from the spot this season. Today, though, I think anyone who took it would have scored. Credit to Danny for taking it and putting it away.

"We needed a result today and I'm pleased our fate is still in our hands. Villa had a good win today which keeps them in it and we'll have to see how Newcastle do tomorrow. I said there will be twists and turns right through to the end of the season but we know what we have to do over the last three games.

"If we win them and finish fourth then I would consider this season to be a success considering the amount of injuries we have had to contend with. We have our players back now and look at what we were able to do today with a fully fit squad."

[Gast Seriöser Bub]

ich lache ob des ergebnisses

[ianrush]

Murphy on spot to punish United from s

Paul Wilson at Old Trafford

Sunday April 25, 2004

The Observer

Liverpool mugged Manchester United in broad daylight on a warm spring afternoon, pretending for most of the match to be as clueless and dispirited as their recent results suggested yet remaining alert enough to take advantage the minute the home side took their eye off the ball.

The game was no classic, illustrating more than anything how far both these sides have fallen from their previous high standards, though Liverpool's third win here in as many seasons will do wonders for their confidence and their chances of claiming the last Champions League place. United are now in serious danger of conceding second place and automatic Champions League qualification to Chelsea and on the evidence of this listless performance deserve no better.

'It was a great performance and a great result against a great team,' Gérard Houllier said. He was only about one-third right, but no one was quibbling on a day when Liverpool displayed a greater desire than United. Houllier was on safer ground when dedicating the victory to the supporters. 'We all needed this. We have felt a bit sad and sorry for our fans in the last few weeks,' he said.

This might have been the first game between these two clubs to kick off at three o'clock on a Saturday since the FA Cup final of 1996, but regardless of title aspirations or television interest there will always be an edge to the North-West derby. It is not mere parochialism, either; London dominance has been the exception rather than the rule in the past three or four decades and for most of that time the top dog in this rivalry has been the best team in the country. So while United fans enjoyed chanting 'Fourteen years' at the visiting supporters, reminding them how long it has been since a title went to Anfield, Sir Alex Ferguson was big enough to admit in the programme that Liverpool's former excellence was the main reason why Old Trafford endured 26 years without a championship.

As long as Liverpool continue to play Michael Owen on his own up front, there is little chance of them recapturing past glories and arguably they prospered here only because Ryan Giggs had another off day and Louis Saha was effectively alone up front for United. Owen notionally had Harry Kewell in support, although these days support from the Australian can be very notional indeed. Owen escaped in the 14th minute to catch out Tim Howard and roll the ball across the face of goal, but neither Kewell nor anyone else in a white shirt was near enough to take advantage.

Lacking Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes, United did not offer much more of a goal threat. Giggs ran purposefully past Sami Hyypia and then Stéphane Henchoz, only to see his shot on the run sail into the crowd, then Saha used his pace to get behind the Liverpool defence but chose the wrong option when checking to square a pass to the marked Darren Fletcher.

The home side briefly looked better when Ronaldo was restored to his rightful position on the right wing in the second half, though the youngster's urgency was in marked contrast to the lethargy of his team-mates. Perhaps sensing United were not over-interested, Liverpool stole an unlikely lead. Vladimir Smicer replaced the anonymous Steve Finnan and immediately began finding space and linking with his front players. United had the briefest of warnings when Howard hesitated under a Danny Murphy cross and had to be rescued by Roy Keane, but there was nothing he could do a minute later when Steven Gerrard stormed past him into the penalty area to be floored by a clumsy tackle by Gary Neville. United's complaints about the penalty were token and Murphy scored with surprising calmness from the spot, considering Liverpool had missed their last three penalty kicks, to become the first visiting player to do so in the league since Ruel Fox 10 years ago.

Cue a United reshuffle and an increasingly desperate assault on Jerzy Dudek's goal. But though Giggs struck a post and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Saha went close, there was no late face-saver. United are supposed to be at their best when chasing a game; Liverpool weren't falling for that one either. 'It wasn't a great performance,' Ferguson said. 'We had the chances to win, but we couldn't make the goalkeeper work and that was disappointing.'

Man of the match

Steven Gerrard

Stéphane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia were excellent in central defence, but Steven Gerrard made a difference in every area of the pitch, and he set up the winning goal. His only lapse was a foul on Manchester United striker Louis Saha, for which Henchoz appeared to receive the booking.

You can mail the Observer direct at [email protected]

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