Liverpool stung by Solskjaer sickener

If the FA Cup is not among Manchester United's priorities then perhaps somebody should tell their players. Sheer persistence and strength of will took Alex Ferguson's team to the fifth round yesterday just when it appeared that Liverpool would knock them out of the competition for the first time in 78 years.

For 86 minutes Gerard Houllier's side clung doggedly to the lead which Michael Owen's header had given them after 140 seconds. Even when Dwight Yorke brought the scores level, Liverpool still had the consolation of a likely replay back at Anfield.

Then, in the first of the two minutes allowed for stoppages, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the eternal substitute, won the tie for United, leaving Liverpool to reflect on the wisdom of defending too deep too early and to rue chances missed in their rare breakaways.

So United have now ended Liverpool's FA Cup ambitions in seven ties since losing to their bitterest rivals way back in 1921.

As a game of football, yesterday's match was hardly the pick of the bunch: there was too much nervous tension to allow the game to flow smoothly. But the occasion was not short of dramatic appeal as Liverpool refused to buckle under the weight of mounting pressure.

For the losers that will be some consolation. In forcing a scoreless draw at Arsenal a fortnight earlier, Liverpool revealed a strength of character missing for some considerable time, and this was again evident yesterday.

With Houllier in sole charge Liverpool are again defending from the front in their old manner. No one worked harder than Robbie Fowler, whose tireless pursuit of both opponents and the ball when a movement broke down did much to delay United's main offensive.

Jamie Redknapp, Paul Ince and Patrik Berger also came into this category, yet so remorselessly did United force Liverpool's midfield back towards their own goal that, when Owen was able to use his extra pace to get clear of Jaap Stam or Henning Berg, such support as he had was distant and tenuous.

Nevertheless, had Fowler not shot wide soon after half-time, and Owen shown a better first touch when a pass from Jason McAteer found him clear and on-side nine minutes from the end, Liverpool would surely have put the tie beyond United's reach. McAteer had replaced a slightly injured Ince midway through the second half.

United had more and more of the ball as the match progressed, but mostly it was a vacant possession that lacked the normal imagination, with David Beckham taking a long time to get accuracy into his distribution.

In theory, the prolific partnership of Yorke and Andy Cole should have posed insurmountable problems for Liverpool's defenders, but the reality was that United's insistence on lofting the ball high into the penalty area often gave Jamie Carragher and Dominic Matteo some simple heading practice.

As they had done against Arsenal, Liverpool were prepared to yield territory in order to deny their opponents space in which to make telling final passes and create one-two movements in and around the penalty area.

When the opponents are Manchester United, luck has to be on your side, and Liverpool appeared twice blessed when in the space of five minutes, just past the hour, shots from Roy Keane and Cole ricocheted wide and high off defenders' feet with David James caught out of position.

In the matter of haphazard positioning, however, no one was more at sea than the United centre-backs when Liverpool took their early lead. Berger swept the ball out to Vegard Heggem on the right, the Norwegian reached the byline and produced a cross which found Owen jumping unmarked between Stam and Berg to nod down past Peter Schmeichel.

That moment was an awful portent for United's encounter in March with Internazionale in the Champions League quarter-finals, and the difficulty they experienced breaking Liverpool down did little to enhance their more immediate prospects in the FA Cup. Only once did United look like scoring before half-time, and that was in the 21st minute when Keane's header glanced down off the bar. The ball hit Ince, stationed on the line, before rebounding straight to James.

When Keane, set up by Yorke, hit a post with 10 minutes remaining some United supporters left for home; not the wisest of moves, as things turned out. In the 88th minute, Cole nodded Beckham's floated free-kick across the goal-mouth for Yorke to score from close range.

By this time, with Solskjaer on for Denis Irwin and Paul Scholes having replaced Nicky Butt, Liverpool were facing a six-man attack. They just failed to survive. Scholes held up a ball from Ryan Giggs before slipping it to Solskjaer who then beat James.

Liverpool were left with their pride intact. They would have preferred it to be their defence.

Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville (Solskjaer 81), Berg (Johnsen 81), Stam, Irwin, Beckham, Butt (Scholes 68), Keane, Giggs, Cole, Yorke. Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, P Neville. Booked: Butt, Keane, Giggs, Scholes. Goals: Yorke 88, Solskjaer 90.

Liverpool: James, Heggem, Harkness, Matteo, Carragher, Bjornebye, Redknapp, Ince (McAteer 71), Berger, Owen, Fowler. Subs Not Used: Kvarme, McManaman, Leonhardsen, Friedel. Booked: Matteo, Owen. Goals: Owen 3.

Referee: G Poll (Tring).

Kevin Keegan will face his managerial nemesis Alex Ferguson again after Fulham were rewarded for their slaying of Aston Villa with a fifth-round visit to the ultimate FA Cup Goliaths, Manchester United.

The two footballing legends had a high-profile verbal spat in 1996 when their clubs, Manchester United and Newcastle, were involved in a straight fight for the Premiership.