Forlan is gifted hero status

Manchester United, supposedly sapped by injury, had the strength to overthrow their tormentors. During a run of four Premiership defeats by Liverpool, they had twice come to Anfield and been overrun. Yesterday, with a defence that owed more to improvisation than design, they made Gerard Houllier's team resemble harmless drudges. From Kevin McCarra at Anfield

The fixture will be recalled for the mistakes by Jerzy Dudek that dropped Diego Forlan into the hero's role. However, the greatest factor of all was the dreariness from which Liverpool could not quite release themselves. United did not revive their Premiership prospects with the usual pyrotechnics.

The flames burned mostly in the hearts of a back four who were indomitable. Alex Ferguson has repeatedly wondered about the level of motivation in a team for whom medals lost their novelty value a long time ago. That questioning was intended to have a motivational effect and even if he has had to wait for a response the answer was most pleasing here.

Peculiar as United's goals may have been, the result made sense. Ferguson was grateful for the fumbling and fiasco of Dudek's handling at the opening goal, but also said, correctly, "I felt that in the second half we were starting to be a big threat to them." Liverpool had grown apprehensive by then, realising that all hope of domination had vanished.

They have not won in the Premiership since November 2nd and four subsequent fixtures have yielded a single point. Houllier is in the habit of marshalling the statistics for shots on target when he wishes to depict his team as a creative force, but no numerical conjuring will account for the prosaic play that constituted a diminishing threat to the visitors.

Liverpool never inspired themselves into vibrancy, partly because United would not let them. An alarming first half against Basel on Wednesday had persuaded Ferguson to switch Mikael Silvestre from left-back to centre-half and, in the latter position, he has the speed to nullify the pace of swift forwards, such as Michael Owen.

At either end of the match, Liverpool were dangerous only from distance. Fabien Barthez turned Milan Baros's half-volley round the post in the second minute. Expert as that piece of work was, it was drudgery compared to the astonishing response he produced to the 30-yarder by Dietmar Hamann, in the 83rd minute, that would have filched a draw for Liverpool.

For a small goalkeeper, Barthez has uncanny reach and that elasticity saw him ease the drive against the top of the crossbar to concede just a corner. For the most part, though, the Frenchman was well-guarded by the back four. The previous week's 5-3 win against Newcastle United had indicated that Ferguson's forwards would have to get the better of their defence's waywardness before victories could be recorded, but the story of their season may not be so rip-roaring after all.

Ferguson knows, too, that he owes a debt to madcap events. In the 64th minute, Jamie Carragher headed firmly back to Dudek, who let the ball slip through his hands and legs. Forlan then rolled it into the empty net.

The Uruguayan may not raise the roof but he has lifted the mini-curse that Liverpool had laid on United. The win was made all but inevitable when Sami Hyypia could not intercept a diagonal pass and Forlan, after 67 minutes, thumped a drive home at the near post that Dudek would surely have parried if he had not been in so crestfallen a state.

The game was fiery and studded with spats, yet it only burned with attacking conviction from Liverpool when, unexpectedly, they found that defeat was not quite inevitable. With unanticipated precision, Hyppia tucked a low shot into the net with eight minutes remaining. A completed revival would not have been merited.

Whether he chooses to admit it publicly or not, increased flamboyance is a necessity rather than a luxury for Liverpool, especially when Steven Gerrard is still failing to kindle any spark. His shanked effort, when set up in the 90th minute, showed how hard it is to recover the timing that is at the core of good form.

This match had many other defects and Arsenal may have grinned even more than the visiting fans. Even so, with a home match against them on Saturday, United have an opportunity to wipe the smiles off those faces.

Guardian Service

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Traore (Riise 78), Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer (Diouf 70), Baros (Heskey 59), Owen. Subs not used: Diao, Kirkland.Booked: Smicer. Goals: Hyypia 82.

MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, O'Shea, Brown, Gary Neville, Silvestre, Solskjaer, Scholes, Fortune (Phil Neville 81), Giggs, Forlan (Stewart 90), van Nistelrooy (May 90). Subs not used: Chadwick, Ricardo. Booked: Van Nistelrooy, Brown, Silvestre, Forlan. Goals: Forlan 64, 67.

Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).