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23 October 2006, by Sean Gillen

United overpower lethargic Liverpool

Manchester United 2-0 Liverpool

Manchester United went back to the top of the Premier league after a surprisingly comfortable win over bitter rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford. Paul Scholes marked his 500th appearance for the club with a goal and Rio Ferdinand added a sublime second as the visitors’ title hopes suffered a serious setback.

Alex Ferguson was dealt a blow before the match with the news that Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo had been deemed only fit enough for the bench after struggling during the week with flu. As it turned out, the former Sporting man was not required as Liverpool offered little in the way of resistance as United won their fifth game in a row.

Liverpool contested the initial stages well, but after Darren Fletcher beat goalkeeper Pepe Reina to a clearance outside the box to almost set up a United opener after eight minutes, the home side started to grow into the game. As a result, United ultimately controlled proceedings for the remainder of the afternoon.

The first real chance of the game arrived soon after, and fell to United’s top goalscorer Louis Saha. A Ryan Giggs corner fell to the unmarked Saha at the back post, but the Frenchman failed to get a clean striker on the ball and Reina was able to make the save. Saha then cut in from the left and fired a right footed shot at Reina.

Liverpool’s only real chance of the game was an excellent one, and fell to summer signing Dirk Kuyt. Chilean winger Mark Gonzalez floated a brilliant cross to the far post, where the Dutchman was unmarked, but Kuyt headed straight at Edwin van Der Sar.

Scholes milestone

The breakthrough for United came on 39 minutes, and it was fitting that man of the moment Scholes was the scorer. The midfielder scored in midweek in the Champions League, and he celebrated his 500th game for the club by getting on the end of a ball played across the six-yard box by Ryan Giggs, prodding in at the second attempt after Reina had blocked his initial effort.

Louis Saha almost doubled United’s advantage two minutes later, hitting a stunning right-foot shot from 25 metres that Reina did well to tip around the post. Alonso then struck a dangerous shot form the edge of the area that flew wide of van Der Sar’s goal.

Liverpool rarely troubled the home side during the second half, and the game was all but sealed with 25 minutes left when Rio Ferdinand produced a marvellous goal, scoring in the fixture for the second year running. A cross into the box from Ryan Giggs was sliced into the air by Jamie Carragher, and Ferdinand took an exquisite touch to control the ball and take it away from Riise, before clinically firing into the top corner.

The remainder of the game was played out with little incident, and a worrying lack of pressure from Liverpool on the United defence. United return to the top of the table after briefly falling behind Chelsea, and after a midweek match in the Carling Cup against Crewe, face a tough trip to the Reebok to play Bolton on Saturday.

Man Utd:
Van der Sar, Neville (O'Shea 78), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Brown 90), Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha
Yellow Cards: Vidic (69)

Liverpool:
Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Gerrard, Sissoko, Alonso (Crouch 70), Gonzalez (Pennant 52), Luis Garcia, Kuyt
Yellow Cards: Sissoko (27), Finnan (76), Crouch (77)

Goals:
[1-0] Scholes, 39
[2-0] Ferdinand, 66