Fernando Torres scored on his return to the Red starting eleven as Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 at Anfield. With 25 minutes remaining the Spaniard ran onto a Benayoun pass, held off a challenge from Ferdinand before beating Edwin van der Sar with a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.

The goal was Torres’ ninth of the season and moved the Spaniard back top of the Premier League goal charts ahead of Darren Bent and Didier Drogba. David Ngog, who came on for Fernando Torres in the 80th minute, grabbed Liverpool’s second of the afternoon six minutes into stoppage time.

The Spaniard was soon in the thick of the action, skipping past his marker before bring brought down by Evra. Minutes later Torres was once again caught by the French full-back. This time the foul earned the defender the game’s first yellow card.

With a quarter of an hour gone Edwin van der Sar produced a brilliant double save to deny Liverpool the lead. The Man U keeper flew across goal to block Fabio Aurelio’s free-kick before diving low to his left to save from Kuyt.

Visiting fans had to wait until the 20th minute for United’s first effort on goal. A Wayne Rooney header from a Valencia right-wing cross was easily caught by Reina- who was in for a quiet afternoon.

Unlike the Liverpool keeper, Fernando Torres was in for a tough afternoon as the Spaniard was once again on the receiving end of a late challenge. This time it was Vidic who bundled into the back of the striker.

The Merseysiders continued to look the likeliest team to score, as Benayoun picked out Fabio Aurelio’s run into the box, but the Brazilian’s header was saved by Van der Sar.

Liverpool should have had a penalty in first-half stoppage-time. United were defending a Leiva free-kick when Kuyt was pulled down by Berbatov. But the referee and his linesman failed to spot the infringement.

The opening 45 minutes were dominated by the home side, with three shots on target plus a further three off target, compared to Manchester United who produced just one shot on goal.

It was a low-key start to the second-half, but the game exploded in to life on 65 minutes as Torres broke the deadlock with his ninth goal of the season. Benayoun threaded the ball through to the Spaniard. Fernando’s pace and power took him past Ferdinand before the forward crashed a right-footed shot past the Man U keeper.

With just ten minutes remaining Rafa Benitez brought on Ngog for Torres. The Spaniard had proved decisive, scoring Liverpool’s first against their North-West rivals.

United almost grabbed an equaliser against the run of play on 83 minutes. A snap-shot from Valencia crashed against the crossbar before bouncing away to safety.

Alex Ferguson’s men were reduced to ten men in the final minute. Vidic, who was already on a yellow card for a foul on Torres, received a second booking for hauling down Kuyt on the halfway line.

It was soon ten-a-side, as Mascherano was given his marching orders deep into stoppage-time. The Argentine was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon for a challenge on Van der Sar.

With the Red Devils piling forward in search of an equaliser, Liverpool grabbed a second on the break. With almost the last kick of the game, David Ngog beat the Man U keeper with a shot into the far corner.

The win moves the Merseysiders four points behind Man U and six behind Premier League leaders Chelsea who beat Blackburn Rovers 5-0 on Saturday.


- Match Stats: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Lucas, Mascherano, Benayoun (Skrtel, 90), Kuyt, Aurelio, Torres (Ngog, 80)

Booked: Carragher

Sent-off: Mascherano

Goals: Torres 65, Ngog 90+6

Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes (Nani, 74), Giggs, Berbatov (Owen, 74), Rooney

Booked: Evra, Berbatov

Sent-off: Vidic