Filed under: Liverpool, Manchester United, Premier League, Football, Match Reports
Dirk Kuyt's first-ever hat-trick for Liverpool helped Kenny Dalglish's side to a fine victory over Manchester United in a thrilling encounter at Anfield.Kuyt has always been fondly regarded by Liverpool's fans but this performance is likely to have propelled him to folklore status as he benefited from some appalling United defensive errors and coolly converted his chances.
It was a disappointing 90 minutes for United. Dimitar Berbatov clipped the outside of the post from 30 yards with a fine effort in the early stages, but other chances were few and far between for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, who never really made an impact until Hernandez scored in stoppage time.
The game was played at a furious tempo throughout, but Liverpool settled quicker and always looked the more composed and organised side.
They took the lead after 34 minutes when Kuyt scored his first ever goal against United - but it was Luis Suarez's moment of pure genius that set the goal up.
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The Uruguayan went past Rafael Da Silva, Michael Carrick, Wes Brown and found Kuyt who was stood virtually on the goalline and he could not miss.
United claimed he was offside but replays proved the goal was legitimate - as was Kuyt's second goal soon after.
A deep Suarez cross was going nowhere until Nani inexplicably headed the ball back towards his own goal and Kuyt ghosted in behind United's flat defence to nod past Edwin van der Sar for another simple finish.
Tempers became increasingly frayed towards the break as Jamie Carragher and Da Silva were both guilty of heavy challenges that led to some heated pushing and pulling.
Nani was stretchered off due to Carragher's tackle and the encounter threatened to overheat before referee Phil Dowd managed to calm the situation down, even though 15 players got involved in a frantic melee just before half time.
After the interval, Steven Gerrard almost made it 3-0 but could not quite finish from close range after more impressive play from Suarez while Javier Hernandez then immediately missed a fine chance for United at the other end as Sotirios Kyrgiakos did enough to put him off.
United were much stronger after the restart and Raul Meireles had to knock a Berbatov header off his own line as the visitors looked to try and get back into the contest.
Meireles was then denied by a fine low van der Sar save before Kuyt brilliant wrapped the game up when van der Sar spilled a Suarez free-kick and the Dutchman was on hand to clip in his third.
The comfortable scoreline offered Andy Carroll the perfect stage to make his Liverpool debut after being injured since joining Liverpool from Newcastle United for £35 million in January and he looked sharp.
United did finally have some impact on the game in injury time when Hernandez grabbed a consolation but nothing was going to tarnish Liverpool - and Kuyt's - glorious afternoon.
REACTION:
Liverpool manager Dalglish could not contain his delight following his side's comprehensive win:
"Everybody that supports Liverpool has had a great day. The performance of the players, their attitude, their commitment, the pride they took in the football club and their own performance, that was the reason they got the result. Everybody gave everything we got.
"Dirk got three goals, he'll get the headlines. Luis played fantastically well but the rest of them weren't too far behind as well. Everyone was really tuned in to what they wanted to do and they did it."
On what the win does for Liverpool's season:
"We know it's a good victory for us. We know Manchester United are a great benchmark but our season is not finished. We want to keep going."
"The closer you get to the top, the more difficult it is to close the gap. The higher you go, the more difficult the step up is. But the owners are determined to move the club forwards. But the players that played there didn't do themselves any harm at all."
On The Kop singing 'happy birthday' to Dalgish during the game to mark his 60th birthday which was on Friday:
"I don't know how long this birthday's going to last; I'll be 70 by the time it finishes."
Hat-trick hero Kuyt described his hat-trick as "the best feeling ever":
"It was perfect. You always dream about scoring a hat-trick and to get one against United is the best feeling ever.
"Edwin Van der Sar said afterwards 'you don't score many goals against me', so I am more than happy with my hat-trick. I also have to say thanks to Luiz too. He's a great player and played brilliantly and created two of the three goals I scored, so I am grateful for that.
"They were quite easy goals. I used to score these goals in Holland when I was playing more as a striker, but they all count and I am more than happy to take them.
"There was a lot of confidence in the team. We also had the belief that we can compete with the best. We showed that against Chelsea and have now shown that against Manchester United. We now have to compete against the other sides."
United manager Ferguson refused to do any media interviews after the game. Ferguson, who would not even to the club's TV channel or website, also gagged his players and coaching staff.
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