FOR SUCH A high-profile fixture, games involving Manchester United and Liverpool have consistently thrown up a collection of unfashionable game-winning or game-making players.
Nigel Clough (4th January 1994)
When Denis Irwin curled a delicious free-kick to Bruce Grobbelaar’s top-corner and gave United a 3-0 lead within the opening 23 minutes, Sky Sports’ Martin Tyler commented ‘Even by Manchester United standards, this is simply stunning’.
Liverpool’s comeback was equally as impressive. Two minutes after Irwin scored, Nigel Clough thumped a magnificent and thunderous low drive to the net via the inside up an upright. Seven minutes before the break, he tucked away his second of the game neatly to the corner after the ball broke perfectly for him in the area. And Liverpool were right back in it.
Memorably, Neil Ruddock powered a close-range header to the net to complete a superb recovery though it was Clough, who scored just seven times in his three years with the club, who turned the game on its head.
Gary Pallister (19th April 1997)
United effectively wrapped up the title with this win at Anfield and though David James made the headlines after gifting Andy Cole a goal, it was all about Gary Pallister grabbing a brace for the visitors.
The first arrived on 13 minutes but John Barnes equalised with a header of his own just six minutes later to keep the game nicely ticking over.
But Liverpool couldn’t deal with David Beckham’s deliveries all afternoon and before the break, he whipped in another brilliant set-piece to the near post and Pallister flicked it home.
The victory was wrapped up when James completely missed a cross, allowing Cole to nod to the net but this was all about Pallister’s unlikely double and how he won his side the game.
Patrick Berger (4th March 2000)
The Czech Republic international spent seven years at Liverpool and managed 28 goals. He scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in late-1997 but his career stalled under Roy Evans and he seemed destined to move from the club in the summer of 1998.
But when Gerard Houllier arrived, Berger began to impress and influence once more. He cropped up with a litany of goals in the 1999/2000 season – a campaign which saw United canter to another Premier League success.
Having scored against United at Anfield in what was a 2-3 loss earlier in the term, Berger popped up again to rescue a point for his side in the return fixture.
And it was a pretty fine strike too.
Diego Forlan (1st December 2002)
The Uruguayan scored 10 league goals for United in a two and a half year spell with the club. So, the brace he scored against Liverpool is a bit of a collector’s item.
For the 2002/2003 season though, he did pop up with some very important goals. Having barely featured, he started against Aston Villa in October and grabbed a late equaliser. A few weeks later, he scored a winner against Southampton. But his double against the club’s eternal rivals would prove the high-point of his time in the English top-flight.
His first was a gift of epic proportions from Jerzy Dudek, who inexplicably allowed Jamie Carragher’s back-pass slip through his hands and Forlan pounced to tap home.
His second was a delightful finish, hammered inside the near post, after he picked up a through-ball from Ryan Giggs.
Mikael Silvestre (20th September 2004)
This fixture throws up a ton of players who have managed to score doubles. Outside of those featured in this piece, Robbie Fowler, Mark Hughes, Andy Cole, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Michael Owen have all done so.
One of the other narratives that crops up when researching this particular head-to-head is Liverpool’s problems dealing with set-pieces.
So, combining both elements, we arrive at Mikael Silvestre in 2004. The Frenchman spent nine years at Old Trafford but only scored 6 league goals. Two of them came at Old Trafford against Liverpool, when he sent a couple of great headers (the second one in particular) past Jerzy Dudek.
Ryan Babel (13th September 2008)
Liverpool spent £11.5m to bring in Ryan Babel from Ajax. In his debut campaign, he seemed pretty adept at scoring largely irrelevant goals in what were thumping wins (6-0 v Derby, 8-0 Besiktas, 3-0 v Newcastle, 4-0 v Bolton, 4-0 v Marseille, 5-0 Luton).
The following season, he failed to hit such dizzying heights and remained a bit-part player. But he was assured of a little bit of cult status when he came on as a substitute at Anfield after 71 minutes in a game against United.
Six minutes later, he scored the winner though his career at Liverpool went steadily downhill after it.
He eventually left the club in January 2011 to join Hoffenheim, returned to Ajax the following summer before he headed to Turkey and Kasimpasa in 2013.
John O’Shea (3rd March 2007)
The defender certainly has a decent collection of crucial/very nice late goals and with many instantly remembering the deft chip in the 2-4 win over Arsenal, this winner against Liverpool is usually overlooked.
Again, it comes from a set-piece (shock) but, more importantly, there was plenty of significance to this. It kept United on a run that saw them lose just twice in their final fourteen games of the season and was a statement of intent in their bitter rivals’ own back yard.
Andrea Dossena (14th March 2009)
Liverpool ran United incredibly close throughout the season, ending up just four points behind the champions at the end of the campaign.
And perhaps what made it more difficult for Liverpool to accept was that they had beaten United home and away. There was a 2-1 victory at Anfield early on in the season but it had nothing on what was an absolute route at Old Trafford in March.
United took the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo but Liverpool had the lead at the break thanks to goals from Fernando Torres and a Steven Gerrard penalty. But with the game in the balance, Nemanja Vidic (who had a horrible afternoon) was sent-off and Fabio Aurelio thumped in a magnificent free-kick moments later.
But, the best moment of the game came in injury time. Andrea Dossena, who struggled badly throughout his time at the club, conjured a delightful lob to inflict further embarrassment on United.
File under ‘Philippe Albert’.
