Last update 13 January, 2013 by Julio Muñoz
Manchester United made worth the goals of the Dutchman Robin Van Persie and the Serbian Nemanja Vidic today to overcome at Old Trafford a Liverpool that closed the gap through the Englishman Daniel Sturridge and threatened to make the afternoon bitter for the locals in the last minutes (2-1).
Los aficionados de los “diablos rojos” They did not stop looking at the clock in the last stretch of a duel that keeps their team at the top of the English league with a ten-point advantage over their neighbors Manchester City, that this afternoon they will face Arsenal in London.
Liverpool showed up in Manchester more eager than the locals and picked up the glove that Alex Ferguson's men threw at the start of the game: dressed in their black kit, it was those of Brendan Rodgers who carried the weight of the match in the first minutes.
United limited themselves to pressing in the visitors' area of the ball's exit and making sure that no Liverpool footballer walked alone, what was enough for him so that the Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea was not threatened, while the “reds” they overconfident themselves on the Manchester lawn.
Despite the fact that England striker Wayne Rooney was left out of Ferguson's plans today due to injury, from which he will foreseeably recover this week, United has the Dutchman Robin Van Persie this season, Premier League top scorer, that ensures a lethal attack in any circumstance.
The locals kept idling until they saw clearly a play worth risking: it was almost at minute twenty, when the team turned towards the rival area and, after an elaborate play of more than a dozen passes, the ball ended up in the boots of Patrice Evra, who beat the defender “red” to the left.
The low center of the Frenchman found Van Persie in his natural place, the center of the area, from where he hit the leather with his left foot and made the Spanish Pepe Reina's effort to avoid United's first goal useless, the seventeenth of the Dutchman this season in the Premier.
Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid coach, I watched from the stands like the locals, next opponent of the whites in the Champions League, they grew with the score in favor and chained opportunities from both Van Persie and the Englishman Danny Welbeck and the Japanese Shinji Kagawa.
Shortly before the break, Liverpool fans who had traveled to Manchester watched with concern as Reina suffered a blow from Kagawa inside the area that left him lying on the ground for several minutes, although the Spanish was able to rejoin and continue the rest of the duel under the sticks.
Los “diablos rojos” they had imposed their dominance for almost half an hour in the first part, but it was not until the ninth minute of the second when they achieved a second goal that seemed unappealable.
Van Persie served a free kick from outside the area with a pumped ball in the direction of Evra, who slipped behind the defense “red” to enter through the far post and head a ball that, after bouncing off his partner Vidic, ended up in the network of Reina.
They had no intention of throwing in the towel. “reds”, who have climbed several positions in the table in recent weeks to eighth place from where the European competitions no longer seem as unattainable as before.
With the Uruguayan Luis Suárez deactivated by the United defense in some sections, it was Steven Gerrard who took the reins at the worst moment for his people.
The English midfielder surprised the locals three minutes after the 2-0 with a shot from outside the area that did not slip into the net thanks to the hand that De Gea took at the last moment.
The ball was left without an owner in the area and the Englishman Daniel Sturridge was able to take advantage of the fact that the Brazilian defender Rafael da Silva was too far away to reach the leather and push him to goal, a first step towards a draw that the “reds” they did not know how to materialize despite the numerous options they made in the last stretch of the game.