FOOTBALL Live

Sunday December 16, 2007 Finished Anfield

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Liverpool

Manchester United

  • Tevez 43’
  1. United win at Anfield again

    United win at Anfield again

    A goal by Carlos Tevez gave Manchester United a crucial 1-0 Premier League win over Liverpool at Anfield. The defeat is a hammer blow for Rafa Benitez's side who fall nine points behind their arch rivals. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Liverpool
    • Manchester United
    • - Right, the second of our double header is about to start, Arsenal v Chelsea - if Arsenal win they go back top, if they don't then United stay top and Chelsea close the gap, simple as that. Click on the match icon in the livebox on the right-hand side of the screen for comments and scoring.
    • 90+3 The end! United win a crucial tie, a hammer blow to Liverpool's title ambitions. United top - for now.
    • 90+2 MAN UNITED SUB: Before the free-kick is taken, Anderson comes off for O'Shea....
    • 90+1 Vidic on Crouch outside the area and the foul is given, a good late chance for Liverpool... a tiny shove in the back from the Serb, a bit soft...
    • 90' Aurelio with a cross that gets the home fans excited but easy for Van der Sar. Crouch seems to handle in bringing the ball down, he has a shot but well wide. Three minutes added time being played.
    • 89' Great through-ball by Van der Sar to Rooney on the right but he runs it out of play while trying to take it into the corner.
    • 88' Liverpool win a free-kick on the right which they try to take quickly but from the wrong position... sent in low to the near post with Crouch two metres tall at the far post, what a waste.
    • 87' Ronaldo knocks the ball down to Giggs, old-school target man style, but the fact his shot is straight at Reina doesn't matter because Ronaldo was penalised.
    • 86' Ronaldo is clean through but that has to be offside, and it is.
    • 84' United take their time over the free-kick. Halsey tells them to get on with it. It's taken short and Liverpool win it back before giving it away, pretty scrappy. United then give it back and Babel runs at pace through the middle but he's tackled on the edge of the box and United clear.
    • 83' MAN UTD SUB: Tevez comes off for Carrick as United shore things up.
    • 82' United break, Tevez to Giggs who loses control but gets it back, he's doubled up on by Mascherano and Arbeloa but wins the free-kick.
    • 81' The ball is back with Van der Sar. United slow it down but give it away.
    • 80' LIVERPOOL SUB: Fabio Aurelio on for Riise. A decent delivery from the corner, which should never have been given, but headed clear, Babel tries a drive but that's blocked...
    • 79' Liverpool attack is foiled by Ferdinand sliding in to intercept the low cross by Riise... throw in which is taken short and Mascherano whips it in for Crouch and Van der Sar misses it but it goes away to safety on the right.
    • 78' United counter at real pace, great ball by Evra over to Ronaldo who is free and slips it across to ROONEY FREE ON THE RIGHT AND HE MUST SCORE BUT HE PUTS IT WELL WIDE!! What a miss! Great move, should have been 2-0. Gaps opening up now.
    • 77' Babel gives it away this time, Riise hurt in challenging for it but he gets up, back with Liverpool, Gerrard into Mascherano who gives it away and United break with Rooney through the middle who chases Gerrard down, he's got back from the other end, plays it back to Reina who dilly dallies and is caught by Rooney.
    • 76' Liverpool come forward... a long ball knocked back by Crouch AND BABEL WITH THE LOW DRIVE INTO THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER BUT INCHES WIDE! Great effort by the Dutchman, but just the wrong side of the post.
    • 73' LIVERPOOL SUB: Kuyt off for Peter Crouch.
    • 72' Corner whipped in by Giggs but Carragher with a very strong header out.
    • 71' Hargreaves with a long range effort after good work from Ronaldo and Tevez but it gets a deflection and over for a corner.
    • 69' Worked to Riise on the left, he sends a decent cross in which Torres can't reach but it drops to Riise who can't get decent contact on the spinning half volley, weak and straight at Van der Sar.
    • 68' Mini goalmouth scramble after a Liverpool corner, speculative claims for a handball against Tevez but that would have been harsh, he inadvertently played it against his own forearm while in full flight.
    • 67' Gerrard crosses deep from the left but Van der Sar arches his substantial frame to claim at the far post.
    • 65' LIVERPOOL SUB: Ryan Babel makes an entry for Kewell.
    • 63' Riise fouls Ronaldo, pretty dirty but Liverpool feel he dived. Takes a while to do the deed as Liverpool are moaning and Mascherano is booked for throwing the ball away.
    • 61' Gerrard tries to play Kuyt through but United probably have the most mobile defence in this league alongside Arsenal and they are back to shepherd it to Van der Sar.
    • 60' Riise's turn now, with Gerrard to lay it off.... but again it is blocked by the wall.
    • 59' Hargreaves handles about ten yards outside the box, poor decision as the ball was played against his elbow from close range, his arms down by his side.
    • 56' Kuyt to Kewell who spreads it wide right to Gerrard after spotting his run but his half-volley is poor and well wide.
    • 54' Benayoun to Kewell who cleverly flicks it wide to Riise, a great low near post cross with Benayoun dives in to head but he gets a bit too under it and the ball flies over.
    • 54' Cross comes in from Riise on the left, Torres tries the flick but it goes wide right... Kuyt now, still with Liverpool as Benayoun tries to flick it in but Evra clears. 'Pool now in the ascendance.
    • 52' Torres goes down very easily when shoulder to shoulder with Ferdinand, who lets him know he feels that was unacceptable.
    • 51' Liverpool break and it falls to Gerrard but his shot is easy for Van der Sar.
    • 50' United break, with pace, Ronaldo on the right is clear and cuts it back for Rooney but desperate defending by Liverpool with Hyppia sliding in!
    • 49' A spell of United pressure culminates in Wes Brown hammering an attempted volley from Rooney's left wing cross, but he drills it into the ground and it bounces up into Reina's chest.
    • 46' Second half underway as Kuyt bursts forward to find Torres in the box but he somehow loses the ball and it's thrashed out for a throw. The ball drops to Gerrard who has a pop but it's deflected off Hargreaves into Van der Sar's arms.
    • 45+1 Rooney and Giggs combine on the left but the one-two doesn't come off, out for a throw. The ref blows for half-time, United - somewhat fortuitously - in the lead at the break.
    • 45' Liverpool up the tempo in an attempt to get something back before the break but Tevez wins a free-kick as we enter one minute of added time.
    • 43' Carragher has to pull to his left to tackle Hargreaves who was in space on United's right, corner to United... Giggs trudges over to take from his opposite flank... Giggs drills it low to the edge of the box WHERE ROONEY SENDS A LOW SHOT WHICH TEVEZ FLICKS INTO THE ROOF OF THE NET FROM CLOSE RANGE!! Brilliant set-piece, United lead just before the break! Smash and grab by Fergie's boys.
    • 42' Good spell of possession for United at the moment and Anderson cleverly finds Giggs on the left but his cross is woeful, out for a goal kick.
    • 40' Tevez wide to Evra, now Giggs, goes inside, Hargreaves, Anderson and Tevez again but too congested and the ball is played forward and straight through to the under-employed Reina.
    • 38' Evra crosses from the left but only Rooney is in the box, too deep anyway so Rooney chases it but is tracked by Hyppia, he miscontrols it and Hyppia puts it out for a throw.
    • 37' The free-kick is central, around 35 yards out, Gerrard and Riise over it, looks like Riise will touch it to Gerrard... Halsey has words as there's some nonsense in the wall... Gerrard has the shot, blocked by the wall but it drops to Torres who clips it across the six-yard box but no-one attacks it and it's wide for a goal kick.
    • 36' Kewell is running through the middle, Gerrard played him in and Brown tugs him back in full flight, clear yellow.
    • 35' Liverpool with seven attempts on goal to United's zero.
    • 34' United with some quality possession but the final cross from the left is too deep and Liverpool clear, Kewell on the ball, now Arbeloa, back with Kewell, to Gerrard, wide left to Riise who cuts inside and has to shoot with his right and it's well wide. Hargreaves forced him inside onto his less favoured foot.
    • 33' Gerrard and Anderson are booked for a bit of lame handbags.
    • 31' This is a lot more like it, tackles flying in all over the place, free-kick to Liverpool a long way out... punted in and VAN DER SAR TOTALLY MISSES HIS PUNCH AGAIN AND IT'S GOING IN OFF FERDINAND'S HEAD BUT HACKED OFF THE LINE BY EVRA SLIDING ACROSS! Ferdinand is furious with his goalkeeper, who ran into Vidic's back and clearly didn't call for it.
    • 30' Giggs plays Rooney into a cul-de-sac and they can break through Benayoun but Evra tackles, now United break, super run from Anderson but a quite brilliant tackle sliding in by Gerrard on the edge of the box, he had to get that spot-on and he did.
    • 29' Evra with a surging run on the left, cuts the ball back and behind by Hyppia for a corner but the officials get it horribly wrong and give a goal kick, the argument being that he ran it out before crossing - which he quite clearly didn't.
    • 28' The set-piece is high into the box and ricochets up into the air off Vidic. Van der Sar tries to punch but a crowd of his own players get in the way and the shot is drilled in low, but off the line by Anderson... the rebound must he headed in by Torres but he puts it wide!! It should have been 1-0.
    • 27' Torres runs into Hargreaves on the edge of the box, no foul... wide now with Kuyt whose cross is blocked. Corner on the right.
    • 26' Bit of aggro between Kewell and Hargreaves after the Australian-Englishman fouls the Canadan-Englishman who then goes over the top on Riise coming in. The ref does very well now and calms them down with some stern words.
    • 24' Gerrard with a pretty rotten tackle on Anderson but no yellow. Very inconsistent from Halsey.
    • 22' Rooney trying to challenge with Carragher and his arm comes across him, free-kick, how boring that you cannot challenge in the air any more. That wasn't an elbow, it was just physical.
    • 20' United playing it long, which I don't think is a great idea as the two strikers are pretty short and Liverpool's defenders are big, strong and sitting fairly deep.
    • 18' Bit of silliness between Mascherano and Evra after the Frenchman runs it out, Mascherano trying to wind Evra up but the Frenchman just sticks his arms out and looks at the ref.
    • 17' Ronaldo wins a foul on the left wing, taken short, now Anderson tries the cross which Arbeloa has to put into touch.
    • 16' Tevez with a great bit of skill to beat and draw the foul from bezzie mate Mascherano.
    • 15' Evra booked for a quite frankly innocuous challenge on Benayoun, who goes down like a sack of spuds.
    • 13' Giggs with a great bit of skill to beat Arbeloa, slips it in to Evra on the overlap who powers in and skins Hyppia to cross in for ROONEY but Carragher is tight on him and clears.
    • 12' Riise robs Ronaldo and slips it into Torres who takes a touch to turn and fire low but it doesn't curl the right way and goes well wide of the far post on the right.
    • 9' The corner is cleared quite easily, Liverpool try to break but nothing doing. Evenly matched so far with Liverpool slightly edging it...
    • 8' Gerrard almost bursts through but Ferdinand is alert and clears... Ronaldo now on the ball, he cuts inside and hammers a shot on goal but Carragher blocks for a corner. It looked like a handball...
    • 8' Hyppia steams in on Tevez, wins the ball and hammers a long-range effort on goal but it is wild, high and wide.
    • 7' Brown with a rough challenge on Kewell. Could have been a card but the ref is lenient.
    • 6' Anderson with a nonchalant piece of skill to spread it wide to Giggs... but the ball towards the box is easy for Hyppia.
    • 5' Long ball in for Rooney on the edge of the Liverpool box but he's adjudged to have used an arm on Hyppia...
    • 4' Ferdinand now makes an error to put the ball out for a throw, which Riise takes with no consequence. The United fans are in excellent voice.
    • 3' Gerrard to take the free-kick on the right... good delivery into the box which Vidic heads clear but Torres with the overhead kick on the edge of the box which Hyppia turns towards goal but over! First chance to Liverpool.
    • 2' Vidic hauls down Torres after a good turn from the Spaniard, no card but a word from referee Mark Halsey.
    • 1' Match underway at Anfield!!
    • - LATE MAN UNITED TEAM NEWS: Anderson plays alongside Owen Hargreaves in midfield with Michael Carrick returning from injury but only to the bench.
    • - LATE LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS: Xabi Alonso doesn't even make the bench, Javier Mascherano continuing his partnership with Steven Gerrard, while Dirk Kuyt is up front with Torres; the same side that beat Marseille 4-0 last week. Yes, that's right, Liverpool are unchanged. Call the cops.
    • - MAN UNITED TEAM NEWS: Manchester United will be boosted in midfield by the return of Owen Hargreaves to partner Michael Carrick.
    • - LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS: Midfielder Xabi Alonso is fit again after two months out for Liverpool, though the partnership of Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano may keep him out of this key match. Steve Finnan is still not over his calf problem so Alvaro Arbeloa will remain at right back.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of the first of this Super Sunday double header, Liverpool v Man United, from 13:00 GMT!

  • Team Stats

    Liverpool Stats Manchester United
    57% Possession 42%
    22 Shots 6
    4 Shots on target 2
    0 Saves 0
    3 Corners 3
    13 Fouls 14
    1 Offsides 1
    2 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 0
    24 Tackles 30
    263 Accurate passes 194
    64 Bad passes 56

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Liverpool
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 2 0
      23 Jamie Carragher 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 34 12 1
      6 John Arne Riise 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 22 12 6
      17 Alvaro Arbeloa 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 21 1 5
      4 Sami Hyypia 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 22 1 1
      8 Steven Gerrard 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 40 9 3
      20 Javier Mascherano 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 31 7 7
      11 Yossi Benayoun 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 21 1 1
      7 Harry Kewell 0 2 1 2 2 0 0 16 10 0
      18 Dirk Kuyt 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 12 3 0
      9 Fernando Torres 0 5 0 1 2 1 0 10 1 0
      19 Ryan Babel 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 11 3 0
      15 Peter Crouch 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 0
      12 Fabio Aurelio 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0
      30 Charles Itandje 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lucas Leiva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2 0
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 21 9 3
      6 Wes Brown 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 14 0 4
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 9 2 2
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 21 2 11
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 19 11 1
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 18 1 0
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 20 15 2
      10 Wayne Rooney 0 2 0 4 1 0 1 20 5 0
      32 Carlos Tevez 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 23 5 6
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Michael Carrick 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
      9 Louis Saha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Darren Fletcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 79' Liverpool attack is foiled by Ferdinand sliding in to intercept the low cross by Riise... throw in which is taken short and Mascherano whips it in for Crouch and Van der Sar misses it but it goes away to safety on the right.
    • 78' United counter at real pace, great ball by Evra over to Ronaldo who is free and slips it across to ROONEY FREE ON THE RIGHT AND HE MUST SCORE BUT HE PUTS IT WELL WIDE!! What a miss! Great move, should have been 2-0. Gaps opening up now.
    • 77' Babel gives it away this time, Riise hurt in challenging for it but he gets up, back with Liverpool, Gerrard into Mascherano who gives it away and United break with Rooney through the middle who chases Gerrard down, he's got back from the other end, plays it back to Reina who dilly dallies and is caught by Rooney.
    • 76' Liverpool come forward... a long ball knocked back by Crouch AND BABEL WITH THE LOW DRIVE INTO THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER BUT INCHES WIDE! Great effort by the Dutchman, but just the wrong side of the post.
    • 50' United break, with pace, Ronaldo on the right is clear and cuts it back for Rooney but desperate defending by Liverpool with Hyppia sliding in!
    • 43' Carragher has to pull to his left to tackle Hargreaves who was in space on United's right, corner to United... Giggs trudges over to take from his opposite flank... Giggs drills it low to the edge of the box WHERE ROONEY SENDS A LOW SHOT WHICH TEVEZ FLICKS INTO THE ROOF OF THE NET FROM CLOSE RANGE!! Brilliant set-piece, United lead just before the break! Smash and grab by Fergie's boys.
    • 37' The free-kick is central, around 35 yards out, Gerrard and Riise over it, looks like Riise will touch it to Gerrard... Halsey has words as there's some nonsense in the wall... Gerrard has the shot, blocked by the wall but it drops to Torres who clips it across the six-yard box but no-one attacks it and it's wide for a goal kick.
    • 31' This is a lot more like it, tackles flying in all over the place, free-kick to Liverpool a long way out... punted in and VAN DER SAR TOTALLY MISSES HIS PUNCH AGAIN AND IT'S GOING IN OFF FERDINAND'S HEAD BUT HACKED OFF THE LINE BY EVRA SLIDING ACROSS! Ferdinand is furious with his goalkeeper, who ran into Vidic's back and clearly didn't call for it.
    • 30' Giggs plays Rooney into a cul-de-sac and they can break through Benayoun but Evra tackles, now United break, super run from Anderson but a quite brilliant tackle sliding in by Gerrard on the edge of the box, he had to get that spot-on and he did.
    • 28' The set-piece is high into the box and ricochets up into the air off Vidic. Van der Sar tries to punch but a crowd of his own players get in the way and the shot is drilled in low, but off the line by Anderson... the rebound must he headed in by Torres but he puts it wide!! It should have been 1-0.
    • 13' Giggs with a great bit of skill to beat Arbeloa, slips it in to Evra on the overlap who powers in and skins Hyppia to cross in for ROONEY but Carragher is tight on him and clears.
    • 12' Riise robs Ronaldo and slips it into Torres who takes a touch to turn and fire low but it doesn't curl the right way and goes well wide of the far post on the right.
    • 8' Gerrard almost bursts through but Ferdinand is alert and clears... Ronaldo now on the ball, he cuts inside and hammers a shot on goal but Carragher blocks for a corner. It looked like a handball...
    • 3' Gerrard to take the free-kick on the right... good delivery into the box which Vidic heads clear but Torres with the overhead kick on the edge of the box which Hyppia turns towards goal but over! First chance to Liverpool.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mark Halsey

  • Liverpool

    Manager: Rafa Benitez

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    Starting line-up

    • J. Reina
    • &. Arbeloa
    • S. Hyypia
    • J. Carragher
    • J. Riise Substitution Out (80′)
    • Y. Benayoun
    • S. Gerrard Yellow Card
    • J. Mascherano Yellow Card
    • H. Kewell Substitution Out (65′)
    • D. Kuijt Substitution Out (73′)
    • F. Torres

    Subs

    • F. Aurelio Substitution In80′
    • P. Crouch Substitution In73′
    • C. Itandje
    • R. Babel Substitution In65′
    • L. Lucas

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Ryan Giggs

    Starting line-up

    • E. van der Sar
    • W. Brown Yellow Card
    • R. Ferdinand
    • N. Vidic
    • P. Evra Yellow Card
    • C. Ronaldo
    • O. Anderson Yellow Card Substitution Out (90′)
    • O. Hargreaves
    • R. Giggs
    • W. Rooney
    • C. Tevez Goal Substitution Out (83′)

    Subs

    • M. Carrick Substitution In83′
    • J. O'Shea Substitution In90′
    • L. Saha
    • T. Kuszczak
    • D. Fletcher

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None