By Chris,
March 6 2011
Manchester United greatly missed the defensive prowess of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic as they crashed to a significant 3-1 defeat at fierce rivals Liverpool. Javier Hernandez' late strike proved mere consoltation for the Red Devils following Dirk Kuyt's match winning hat-trick.
Hopes of going the whole league campaign unbeaten were extinguished at Wolves a matter of weeks ago, and United have now slumped to three away defeats following the weekend's reverse at Anfield.
Kuyt was the hero with all three goals - two before the half-time interval, as Kenny Dalglish's side humiliated their visitors and kept their own faint hopes of Champions League qualification alive.
The deadlock was broken shortly after the half-hour mark after some excellent work from Luiz Suarez allowed Kuyt to tap-in, before Nani's poor defensive header gifted the wide man his brace.
Maximum points were secured for the Scousers' after the break. Edwin van der Sar could not hold onto Suarez' powerful free-kick and Kuyt was on hand to tap home his third of the game.
United, who miss the opportunity to go six points clear at the top, salvaged late consolation when Javier Hernandez scored a trademark late goal but it was a grim 90 minutes for the league leaders.
The Red Devils must bounce back from this setback against main title challengers Arsenal in the FA Cup and against Marseille in Europe. Otherwise, a season which has promised so much in terms of silverware could be derailed very, very quickly.
Full Time - Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United
Attendance - 44,753
