Two heroes to the Manchester United 2-1 victory at Anfield against Liverpool; Juan Mata with a brace that might secure a place in the Champions League, and Steven Gerrard stomping on Ander Herrera, getting sent off after only 44 seconds.
Manchester United followed the Swansea plan from Liverpool’s previous match to stifle the Reds on their home ground and succeeded. Liverpool looked lost for almost the entire match and besides a try or two from long range, Daniel Sturridge scoring a second half goal was the only time David de Gea was tested in this match.
Besides the goals, with the second one from Mata after a brilliant assist from Angel di Maria, violence and weird occurrences, including Wayne Rooney missing a penalty kick dominated the events.
Steven Gerrard lasted just 44 seconds on the pitch. He didn’t like the way Ander Herrera challenged him in the middle of the field, so he stomped on the Mexican midfielder, resulting in the red card. He came in at half time to save the day, but made a pitiful attempt to hide his offence. Phil Jones should have been sent off and not booked (should have been booked earlier) for his deliberate challenge on Jordan Henderson, never trying to reach the ball. Oh and there was Di Maria. Angel di Maria should have been booked for catching the ball with both hands before it went out of bounds. Who does that?
Later, Mario Balotelli wasn’t happy with a challenge from Chris Smalling and if it wasn’t for some quick-minded Liverpool fans, the Italian might have found himself sent off as well.
Martin Skrtel completed the poor performance for Liverpool with his stomp on David de Gea which didn’t result in a red card on the pitch, but should be turned into a suspension once the FA gets a hold of the video.
