Liverpool 1 - 2 United

DDG

Valencia Jones Smalling Blind(Rojo)

Mata Herrera(Falcao) Carrick Young(Di Maria)

Fellaini Rooney

Today's Top Two Players

After last week's excellent display, I wondered whether we were capable of keeping the momentum and win this tough fixture at Anfield. The boys were absolutely brilliant again. I rate today's performance as even better than last week's simply because we were playing the Premier League's form team in their own backyard. Our players passed Liverpool out of the game during the first half. Mata, Herrera and Carrick were so tidy in possession that they made me wonder whether I was watching Barca of 2009. Ok, I might be exaggerating but the ease at which we played the ball during the first half was a joy to watch.

Impressive stats given that we were away from home

Liverpool were a bit better during the second half but I still thought we were in control. Man Utd had 58% (over 150 more passes than Liverpool) of the possession at Anfield.....that speaks heaps of today's performance. At half time Liverpool's manager called upon Gerrard to get them back into the game however he only lasted 45 seconds on the pitch. Stevie G decided to stamp on our Herrera and was rightly shown the red card. That's the second time in a year that their legend fucked them up in a big game. HA! Love it. 

Today's man of the match was Mata. His passing was top notch and he took his goals really well. Whoever still thinks that Mata is not Man Utd quality is an imbecile of titanic proportions. Mata should be a fixture in our side and Di Maria has to earn his place on the left if he wants to play. At the moment Young isn't doing anything wrong but, despite his form, Di Maria is world class and that should be enough to warrant him a place in this side. Anyway, bravo Mata. 10/10. 

Herrera was really good as well. Just like last week, he did well playing close to Mata. They're obviously good friends and they seem to understand each other really well on the football pitch. Herrera's pass that lead to our first goal was a beauty. Gets a good 8/10. 

Another good performer today was Fellaini. He won every aerial duel in attack and, more importantly, in defence. His presence in our box relieved our defenders of pressure as he managed to clear away most crosses by Liverpool. What looked like to be one of United's worst buys ever has turned into a player we cannot do without at this present time. Ever since his goal away to WBA some months ago, he hasn't looked back. Well done.

As for the other players; I thought everyone had a good game. Rooney was perhaps the player who didn't do anything special. He did well when in possession but barely threatened the Liverpool rearguard. He could have spared us a few tense minutes but his penalty was saved by Mignolet. Roo should have let Mata take the penalty to get his hat-trick and make what he described as "the happiest day" in his Man Utd career even better. 

Our rearguard was excellent. Blind should keep playing at left-back. Smalling and Jones showed that last wee's performance wasn't a one off. 

Ecstatic. That describes me at the moment. This was a performance that shows that United's future isn't as bleak as we thought throughout the season. It finally seems like Van Gaal is doing something right. This time last year we looked clueless. Fast forward to this present day and I can finally see a ray of hope. Let's hope we keep this run going. Liverpool still have to play Arsenal and Chelsea away from home so I expect us to make it into the top four. Anyway, with this United team, you never know. What I do know is that, today, the boys have done us proud. Come on United! 

Jamie Carragher: "I've never seen Liverpool get so dominated at Anfield as they did in the first half, Manchester United were brilliant."

LvG: "I'm very happy that we have won, and made a gap between fourth and fifth. Now we can look up to second position."

Mata: "It feels amazing. The game was massive for us. Today is the happiest day for me since I joined Manchester United."