Controversial penalty enough for United to defeat Liverpool

Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool

A controversial penalty in the second minute, converted by Ryan Giggs, was enough for Manchester United to defeat ten-man Liverpool in a damp squib of a cup tie at Old Trafford.

There was to be no fairytale return for caretaker boss and Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish, who saw his team fall behind in the opening seconds.

Dimitar Berbatov took a tumble in the penalty area under a challenge from Daniel Agger in a hectic opening and athough there was contact, it was minimal and both Agger and Liverpool can feel hard done by at Howard Webb’s decision to award the spot kick.

The Liverpool players protested en masse at the decision, but the delay did little to affect Ryan Giggs, who smashed to the ball to the right hand corner of the net beyond the reach of Pepe Reina.

United controlled things after the goal, but there was little goalmouth action in a game which promised much but delivered little. The visitors were dealt a further blow just after the half hour mark when captain Steven Gerrard saw red for a reckless challenge on Michael Carrick.

Gerrard may have made some contact with the ball in the challenge, but both his feet were off the ground and he can have little complaint about the red card brandished by Webb.

Jonny Evans struck the post with a header from a corner on the stroke of half time as United went in at half time with their lead intact.

Despite being a man down, Liverpool were far better after the break, with a nervous looking United failing to make the most of their advantage.

The hosts failed to create any real clear cut chances, apart from one spell midway through the second half when Pepe Reina made four saves in succession as the ball pinged around the Liverpool penalty area.

Even though they failed to build on their lead, United never really looked like conceding and stand in ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak had only two saves of note to make, from a long range effort by substitute Ryan Babel and a free kick by Fabio Aurelio.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side held on for victory, achieved once more without ever really hitting top gear, which has been the story of the Red Devils’ season so far.