LONDON: Even the most ardent Liverpool fans would have left Manchester United with embarrassed smiles had they snatched a draw today but plenty will be asking why goalscorer Daniel Sturridge started on the bench in the 2-1 defeat.
Later, Manchester City moved back to within seven points of the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory against Arsenal as both sides finished with 10 men on a hostile afternoon in north London.
The Gunners were forced to play with a man disadvantage for most of the game after Laurent Koscielny was sent off for hauling down Edin Dzeko in the penalty area – although the Bosnian striker missed the resulting penalty.
City made the man advantage count with two first-half goals as James Milner fired an excellent opener from a tight angle before Dzeko did manage to get his name on the scoresheet with close-range tap in.
Both teams were then forced to play the final 15 minutes with 10 men after City captain Vincent Kompany was also sent off for a two-footed challenge on Jack Wilshere.
Premier League leaders United dominated their old rivals for much of the Old Trafford clash with Robin van Persie and Nemanja Vidic, albeit just offside when he deflected in Patrice Evra’s header, giving them a 2-0 lead.
Ex-Chelsea forward Sturridge, introduced at halftime despite having scored on his club debut in the FA Cup win over Mansfield Town last weekend, was straight into the action and pulled a goal back on 57 minutes after Steven Gerrard’s shot was saved.
Looking twice as lively as any other visiting player, Sturridge then had three decent chances to level as United panicked at the back before holding on in a game where they should have been home and dry.
Although his finishing was not up to scratch, Liverpool fans will be pleased to see a player with attacking intent in the box after spending the first half of the season almost entirely dependent on 15-goal Luis Suarez – who was disappointing on the day.
“He (Sturridge) was terrific when he came on and we were much better in the second half,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers told a TV channel without revealing why the England man had not started having been starved of football latterly at Chelsea.
“In the second half, after we conceded the goal, we could have given up the fight but that is the nature of the group. In the end, I thought we maybe deserved something from the game. The goals we conceded were disappointing.
“We will learn from days like today, even though we didn’t get the result.”
“It obviously doesn’t matter when you play Liverpool, it is a big game and I hope it’s an important result,” Alex Ferguson said of his team’s performance. (Reuters)
