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| Juan Mata celebrates against Liverpool |
Juan Mata hits a brace; Gerrard sent off; Rooney penalty miss! A fierce derby outclassed by clash of feet and physique as well.
The last time Liverpool suffered a defeat was at Old Trafford; same derby fixture. It's been weeks now since that defeat and lately Liverpool are in track of a brilliant form. Especially recent triumphs over Manchester City and Southampton proved them to be on course to reserve a Champions League spot.
Manchester United was 10 points behind The Reds back then during their win and they began the reverse fixture by 2 points ahead. Van Gaal had displayed quite a convincing run despite a bad start to his United campaign. Stats reveal the Manchester side has recorded the most number of away wins at Anfield than any other team.
Starting line-up
Manchester United
David de Gea, Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Micheal Carrick, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney.
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet, Emre Can, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana, Philppe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge.
12 minutes into the encounter Herrera's diagonal pass sneaked through 3 defenders to reach Juan Mata and the Spaniard proved himself the better man to Mignolet with a goal. The goal marked his first ever goal in Premier League since ever he had scored against the same Merseyside counterpart back in December. Thus, the reverse fixture's score sheet was pre-occupied with the former goal scorer.
Minutes later Allen was the first Red to get penalized for a tackle over Herrera. Liverpool weren't much lethal in attack and United defense provided no room for the opponents to outclass them. Valencia and Smalling displayed good works with both feet and physique as well.
Home side's the very convincing chance was created by Sturridge after half an hour mark, right inside the left space of penalty-zone, when he passed it past two defenders which went on to reach Lallana's feet.
Unfortunately, the striker shot it off beyond the right bar and missed a precious equalizer. Had it been on-target, De Gea was of no means to dive for it.
Liverpool survived a scare in the dying minutes of the half when Michael Carrick's long range effort was well stopped by Mignolet's gloves. Players returned to the tunnel at half-time with the score line of 1-0 to Manchester United. A well-deserved lead as they capitalized the half and were the far better team in creating convincing chances.
Second half was underway at Anfield following a halftime change with Steven Gerrard coming in and Lallana leaving the pitch. But just 45 seconds into the half and Gerrard experienced a horror noon; surely one to forget. His intentional stamp over Herrera enabled the referee Atkinson to declare marching orders to the former England captain. Frustrated English man left the field in agony. Later Herrera was booked as well for his earlier challenge on Steven Gerrard.
Anfield remained stunned and silent due to this tragedy of reducing themselves down to 10 men. Minutes later Coutinho, the star in the spotlight amidst the sunlight, chosen as football legend Pele's man to watch, sent in a powerful shot just inches higher off the post. Chants and boo's came into existence after Jones had a cheap challenge over Henderson and Merseyside supporters cried for a favorable red card. Nevertheless, he was warned with a yellow.
Clock ticked around 59 minutes when Di Maria and Mata produced a one-two pass. Having the first touch, Mata lurked in towards the penalty area when Di Maria responded him a lob pass. The Spaniard once again proved himself the better man to the goal stopper, with an acrobatic effort to hit the right edge of the net. The Spaniard completed a brace for himself and extended the lead as well.
Manchester United were on the driving seat, still Rooney missed a 3rd goal from Di Maria's cross. But with 20 minutes less than the final whistle, game and home crowd plunged back into action when Coutinho's rapid ball cut 3 defenders and Sturridge managed to score past De Gea through a few inches gap between his gloves and the left bar. The trailing goal reinstated the required belief to overturn the dismay; at least a draw in such a pathetic situation.
Two out-of-form and lately transferred strikers Radamel Falcao and Mario Balotelli were brought in; but were of not worth enough. Into the stoppage minutes, when Wayne Rooney was handed a penalty after Blind went down for a silly challenge. But Liverpool held on to one last breath when Mignolet astonished masses by blocking the shot from the spot.
Match ended in dramatic rival fashion when De Gea confronted Skrtel for the home-side man's poor stamp over the keeper. He deserves a red card for sure and any post-match suspension is of no surprise.
Manchester United moved 5 points clear of Liverpool onto fourth spot with 5 points short of first place. The Manchester side is patently inching towards regaining its Champions League spot.
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