SOCCER/ ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: MICHAEL CARRICK believes Manchester United's title-winning experience will ensure there is no complacency or Arsenal-like stumble from the reigning champions in the final stretch of the Premier League season.
Alex Ferguson's team moved five points clear of the pack on Easter Sunday with a comprehensive defeat of Liverpool at Old Trafford and a performance that, although overshadowed by Javier Mascherano's histrionics, augured well for the club's 17th league title.
United have taken a maximum 15 points from their last five league games in contrast to Arsenal's four, a run that has transformed their respective prospects within a month and enabled Chelsea to claim second place from Arsene Wenger's side.
Ferguson dismissed championship talk as premature in the aftermath of the Liverpool victory and, with Arsenal and Chelsea still to come in the run-in, his players toed the party line. Carrick, however, admits United have hit their stride at an opportune moment and know from recent experience what is required to secure the title.
"Three or four weeks ago we were three points behind Arsenal and well aware that we needed to get points on the board quickly," said the midfielder. "We've managed to do that.
"Arsenal have slipped up and opened the door for us and we're playing very well at the moment. It's been an important week for us and we've done what we set out to achieve.
"A lot was made of Sunday, with two big games going on. Well, we did our bit. We're well aware that when we play our best, we will beat anyone. But we've got a tough run-in, so we're not going to get carried away. Having said that, we're happy with the position we're in, that's for sure."
Patrice Evra, the French full back, went further, admitting the Premier League is now United's to throw away. "We know we are in a great position now but we know we have seven games which will be like seven finals," he said. "We have to win those seven finals. We have our destiny in our hands. Sunday was a massive day for us. It was so important and that is why everybody is so happy. We did our job well."
Both Evra and Carrick were adamant the dismissal of Mascherano had no bearing on the outcome, with United in the ascendancy before the Liverpool midfielder's second yellow card in the 43rd minute. "We beat Liverpool not because Mascherano was sent off but because we deserved to win," Evra said.
Carrick, hugely impressive against Rafael Benitez' team but left out of Fabio Capello's England squad for tomorrow's friendly in Paris, admitted both sets of players should have been wary of showing dissent to the referee, Steve Bennett, following the fallout of Ashley Cole's petulant performance against Tottenham four days earlier.
"There's been a lot said about dissent last week. Players are well aware of that and it's in the front of everyone's minds," he said.
"It was unfortunate for a sending-off to happen but we were ahead at the time and playing well, so I'm not sure it changed the course of the game."
Mascherano's mad moment, however, is a smokescreen for Liverpool's all-round failure - Benitez should be worried his team's spine collapsed under United's challenge. According to eyewitnesses it was the most innocent request that condemned Mascherano.
"What's happening?" is all the Argentinian is alleged to have asked of Bennett. However, Mascherano erred badly in asking the question of Bennett. It should have been addressed to his Liverpool team-mates.
What happened at Old Trafford was galling in the extreme for Liverpool supporters, particularly as it resembled a significant step closer to a 17th league title for a hated rival and confirmed what amounts to heresy on the Kop these days; that Tom Hicks was absolutely right.
The Liverpool co-chairman has hardly displayed the Midas touch in his 13 months at Anfield but the assertion that Benitez' players lack self-belief against Manchester United rang as true on Sunday as it did in December, when the Texan delivered the damning verdict following the champions' 1-0 win on Merseyside.
Then, as on Sunday, Liverpool confronted Ferguson's side with genuine confidence that the first Benitez triumph over United in the Premier League was at hand.
Yet in neither confrontation with United did Liverpool show the confidence Benitez claimed was coursing through his team before kick-off.
It was the individual performances from the spine of the Liverpool team that alarmed most of all. Jose Reina, Jamie Carragher, Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Torres and potentially Martin Skrtel should not be found wanting in a game of this importance and, in the Champions League, very rarely are.
Carragher and Skrtel were constantly unsettled by the movement and alertness of Wayne Rooney and it spoke volumes about Liverpool's defensive performance that Fabio Aurelio was their most assured presence at the back.
Mascherano's indiscretion means Liverpool cannot forget Old Trafford as quickly as they would wish. The return of the Champions League cannot come quickly enough.
- Guardian Service
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