Manchester United win FA Cup tie against Liverpool
Liverpool came into an important match of their season without their previous manager Roy Hodgson. His replacement Kenny Dalglish was the one leading the Merseyside team into a very important FA Cup knockout match against Manchester United.
Manchester United and Liverpool have a rivalry unparalleled in the English football history. Therefore, Dalglish came into the side with the hope of getting them to a perfect start by a victory at Old Trafford. The new manager was leading a side that has fallen to an all time low, as far as their performance was concerned. During this season, Liverpool have not felt very comfortable outside Anfield, while it was quite a daunting task to raise their spirits at Old Trafford, whose environment is unfriendly and the crowd is inhospitable to the Reds.
The first match of Dalglish saw a lot of controversy as well, with the referee giving many decisions that might upset the new boss of Liverpool. First, a controversial penalty was awarded which was scored by Ryan Giggs for the only goal of the match. Apart from this, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 was shown a red card for his challenge on Michael Carrick which restricted Liverpool’s chances of getting an equaliser. In the end, Dalglish failed to get to a perfect start and is still facing many problems, especially raising the morale of his side lingering in the bottom half of the Premiership table.
Sir Alex Ferguson was missing one of his key men, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809.
On the other hand, Dalglish did not have enough time to prepare for this match. However, most of his main players were available and Gerrard, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dirk-Kuyt-c11348 were all included in the starting XI. Daniel Agger also starred in the starting line-up, fully recovered from a long injury. Nevertheless, the only problem with Liverpool’s squad was a lack of confidence as their team sheet looked as good as Manchester United’s.
Ryan Giggs was the perfect man to score the goal in an important match for United. However, the decision was very controversial as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-Agger-c9884. Nevertheless, the penalty was awarded and United took the lead after just a couple of minutes of the first whistle.
After half an hour of the match, Gerrard was a victim of another decision that went against Liverpool. The Englishman ran into his http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282, and went all over his body. It was a reckless foul and referee did not think twice as he brandished a straight red card. After that decision, Liverpool’s hopes died as United took control of the match.
There were little chances for Liverpool to level the match as the 10-man disadvantage proved to be the real problem. Manchester United had a couple of good chances to increase their lead but they also failed to take advantage. In the end, United won the match by a single goal and without much of a fight by the visitors. Liverpool is now out of contention in all the domestic competitions and Dalglish has enough time to focus on the problems and rebuild the team.
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