It may not have lived up to Sir Alex Ferguson's billing as the
greatest match-up in English football but Liverpool's 1-1 draw at home
to Manchester United was typically not without incident.
• Jolly: Ferguson shuffles his pack at Anfield
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was denied a dream
return to the starting line-up when his free-kick midway through the
second half was cancelled out by substitute Javier Hernandez's late
header.The England international put seven months of rehabilitation
behind him after a groin operation in March by capping an assured
performance in midfield with the goal which looked like extending his
side's home dominance over their arch-rivals.
However, Hernandez
prevented a fourth successive United defeat at Anfield - which has not
happened since 1979 - to maintain his team's unbeaten record this
season.
It also denied Liverpool a happier anniversary than the
one they were enjoying after marking the 12 months to the day since they
were bought by Americans Fenway Sports Group.
Wayne Rooney's
demotion to the bench summed up his miserable week after his England
sending-off and subsequent three-match ban for Euro 2012, which was the
talking point before kick-off.
Once the match kicked off there
were plenty of others - mainly in the second half - with Rio Ferdinand's
disputed foul on Charlie Adam which could have resulted in the defender
seeing red and United goalkeeper David de Gea's impressive performance
just two.
The first half was essentially about trying to establish
a grip on the game and although Liverpool had the better of that scrap
early on United had done enough to restore the balance by the interval.
Both
sides had chances to open the scoring with Phil Jones, playing in
midfield, heading Patrice Evra's deep left-wing cross into the
side-netting when he should have done better.
A similar accusation
could have been levelled at Luis Suarez, who looked like he would give
Rio Ferdinand a torrid time after their opening exchanges but found the
United defender a worthy opponent as the half drew on.
The Uruguay
international found himself with only David de Gea to beat when Charlie
Adam's 34th-minute shot kindly rebounded off Jonny Evans but the
striker shot straight at the goalkeeper who parried the ball to safety.
Gerrard found the midfield a little too crowded for his liking and rarely got the space or opportunity to have much impact.
Early
in the second half Ashley Young's 25-yard free-kick briefly had Jose
Reina scrambling to claim at the second attempt but the tide was
gradually turning in favour of the hosts.
They felt they should
have had a penalty when Dirk Kuyt's header struck the arm of Evans. And
when Ferdinand, who had been booked for an earlier foul on Suarez,
tripped a charging Adam with the slightest of touches as he threatened
to break into the penalty area, the Liverpool fans were convinced he
should have been sent off.
Gerrard, however, exacted a greater
punishment when he curled home a low shot from the resulting 25-yard
free-kick after Ryan Giggs left a space in the wall.
Rooney and
Nani were immediately sent on, with the latter blazing a shot well over,
before fellow substitute Hernandez was introduced for the final 15
minutes.
And he made his mark within six minutes of coming on as
Danny Welbeck flicked on a left-wing cross and the youngster headed home
unmarked at the far post.
But United were indebted to De Gea, who
has come in for a fair amount of criticism in his maiden season, as the
Spaniard threw himself to his left to deny Dirk Kuyt.
He was in
action again in injury time when he acrobatically tipped over a shot
from Henderson, with the Liverpool midfielder also having a chance to
win it even later only his header from Stewart Downing's cross dropping
onto the roof of the net.
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