9 Greatest Liverpool Vs Manchester United Games Of The Premier League Era
Liverpool and Manchester United are two of the bitterest rivals in world football and they have endured some real ding-dong battles over the years. United may have had the better of the Premier League era, but that has not stopped the two sides competing fiercely and producing some classic contests. Here are the nine best matches between the Red Devils and the Reds since the Premier League began.
9. May 1999 – Liverpool 2-2 Man Utd
This was a thrilling game at the time as the last minute equaliser for Liverpool, from a United old boy, looked like it could potentially cost the Red Devils their title race with Arsenal. Dwight Yorke and Denis Irwin had put United 0-2 up at Anfield but Jamie Redknapp and then Paul Ince in the dying minutes brought it back to 2-2, which is how it finished. It seemed a massive result, but United managed to win the league by a single point that season.
8. Jan 1999 – Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool
An absolutely heart-breaking result for Liverpool who led for a whopping 85 minutes of this game, only for it to be snatched away from them. This was actually a FA Cup 4th round match and Liverpool had taken the lead after just three minutes through Michael Owen. They held onto that advantage all the way until the 88th minute when Dwight Yorke equalised and just two minutes later Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had won it for Fergie’s boys. A cruel way to go out of the competition for the Merseysiders.
7. Jan 2012 - Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd
Liverpool have not often enjoyed FA Cup success over Manchester United but they did in 2012 and in dramatic fashion. Goals from Daniel Agger and Park Ji-Sung left the score level at the break and it looked like the sides could be heading back to Old Trafford for a replay of the 4th round contest. However, the ever-reliable Dirk Kuyt had different ideas when he popped up with two minutes to go to send the Mancunians packing.
6. Dec 2000 – Man Utd 0-1 Liverpool
Not a spectacular result on paper but this represented the first victory for Liverpool over Man Utd in 10 attempts. They were coming off seven losses and three draws when they headed to Old Trafford. United were clear favourites to extend their unbeaten run over the Reds but Danny Murphy curled in a free-kick from the edge of the box just before half-time and that proved enough to be the difference. It turned out to be the breaking of a curse as United then lost four more straight games against the men from Anfield.
5. Mar 2014 – Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool
This was not a good season for United as they completely failed to deal with the transition from Sir Alex Ferguson to his successor David Moyes – eventually finishing seventh. A serious low point for the Red Devils was their 0-3 home defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool thanks to two Steven Gerrard penalties and a late third from Luis Suarez. It looked like a result that was going to push the Reds onto their first Premier League title, but Brendan Rodgers’ side couldn’t quite get the job done.
4. Sep 2010 – Man Utd 3-2 Liverpool
The Red Devils won the league in 2011 whilst Liverpool had a disappointing season and this game summed up the direction the two sides’ seasons were going in. United took a 2-0 lead thanks to Dimitar Berbatov only for two Steven Gerrard strikes to level things up with 20 minutes to go. However, the Bulgarian’s big day was not to be ruined and he popped up to complete his hat-trick with five minutes to go and win the game for his side.
3. Mar 2009 – Man Utd 1-4 Liverpool
Alex Ferguson’s men went on to win the title in 2009, but it looked like Liverpool might just catch them when they turned up at Old Trafford and hammered their hosts. United actually took the lead through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty but that did not put off their visitors who banged in four in reply. Goals from Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Fabio Aurelio and Andrea Dossena gave Liverpool a comfortable victory.
2. Sep 1999 – Liverpool 2-3 Man Utd
One that Jamie Carragher would rather forget as the Liverpool legend managed to put two own goals past his own keeper, effectively handing victory to his side’s bitter rivals. Carragher opened the scoring in just the third minute and managed to slot past Sander Westerveld again before half-time, either side of an Andy Cole goal. It was 1-3 to United at half-time and a Patrick Berger effort with 20 minutes to go made for an exciting finish, especially after Cole was red carded, but United held on.
1. Jan 1994 – Liverpool 3-3 Man Utd
Way back in Premier League history, in the days of Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Wright, Liverpool and Manchester United played out one of the greatest games seen in the league. United raced into a 0-3 lead at Anfield thanks to Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs and Denis Irwin after just 23 minutes. Sides just did not come back from that kind of deficit against that United side, but the Reds did. In fact, two Nigel Clough goals before half-time seriously reduced the deficit and then Neil Ruddock regained parity for his team with 10 minutes to go.