The Reds’ manager, Kenny Dalglish, blames his side’s poor start to the second forty-five minutes against Manchester United as the reason behind the loss.
Manchester United and Liverpool played out a controversial, yet thoroughly entertaining match at Old Trafford with the home side emerging from the confrontation as the victors.
The match began with Liverpool striker refusing to shake Patrice Evra’s hand, before the Uruguayan was snubbed by Rio Ferdinand.
The first half saw little incident, apart from a Rio Ferdinand tackle on Suarez, which the referee deemed a fair challenge, while the striker was clean through on goal. Even after multiple replays, opinion was divided on the decision.
The second half saw United score a brace in the span of three minutes, with England international, Wayne Rooney beating Pepe Reina twice to give United a two goal lead.
Suarez, much to the dismay of the home support, pulled one back for the visitors, which was to be Liverpool’s only goal of the match.
However, Liverpool manager blamed the side’s slow start to the second half as the reason for the side’s loss.
He said, “Obviously the two goals coming as quickly as they did made it really difficult for us to try and get anything from the game, but to the boys credit they got back into it and got a foal when Luis (Suarez) got on the end of a free-kick.”
Dalglish continued, “De Gea made a good save right at the end but overall I think you would say they were the better side, but you’d expect them to be at home, and the two goals in five minutes gave us a mountain to climb.”
The Liverpool manager pretty much summed up the footballing side of the match, yet Manchester United versus Liverpool matches are always about more than just football.
Tensions reached boiling point after the final whistle when Patrice Evra was animated in his celebrations, however, to Suarez’s credit, he walked off the pitch after shaking a number of United players’ hands and avoided making the incident any bigger than
it already was.
The match however, will be remembered for more than just the football that took place on the pitch.