Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool 2, Man Utd 0
FERNANDO Torres and substitute David Ngog left Manchester United reeling as Liverpool brilliantly halted their four-game losing streak.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had said prior to the game that one win would change everything, and what a result his team delivered to ease the pressure on the Spaniard.
The champions were eventually beaten after a stunning performance of defiance that followed days of the worst crisis Liverpool have suffered in decades.
If the critics were to be believed, boss Benitez was for the chop, Liverpool were all washed up and facing financial ruin.
Well not after this cracking Barclays Premier League battle. Liverpool restored their pride with a victory over, for them, the best victims possible.
Torres forced his injured frame through the game and grabbed his ninth goal of the campaign midway through the second half to get Liverpool really firing.
Ngog hit the second in stoppage-time, with the match at boiling point. United had by that stage lost defender Nemanja Vidic to his third red card in successive matches against Liverpool.
Javier Mascherano saw red too, but it was Liverpool who inflicted the second league defeat of the season on United to restore faith among their worried fans.
As expected, Steven Gerrard missed the match with a groin problem, but Wayne Rooney recovered from a calf injury to play for the champions.
Liverpool had Torres and Glen Johnson back after both missed the Champions League defeat to Lyon on Tuesday, while United also had Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick back in their starting line-up. Michael Owen, facing his former club, started on the bench and on his introduction received a punishing reception from the fans who once worshipped him.
United's supporters made the most of Liverpool's recent misfortune. Beach balls, Eric Cantona masks and insulting banners were smuggled into the away section.
