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Dirk Kuyt hat-trick fires Liverpool to victory over Manchester United







Premier League

Liverpool 3
  • Kuyt 34,
  • Kuyt 39,
  • Kuyt 65
Manchester United 1
  • Javier Hernandez 90


  • Kevin McCarra at Anfield
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 March 2011 15.46 GMT <li class="history">Article history
    Liverpools-Dirk-Kuyt-cele-007.jpg
    Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt celebrates scoring his third goal against Manchester United at Anfield. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images Liverpool are not contenders for the Premier League title but there was deep satisfaction in damaging the prospects of the leaders. Manchester United, who scored only in stoppage time, were defeated resoundingly at Anfield by a hat-trick from Dirk Kuyt and could not hide the flaws at the core of a defence weakened by injury and suspension.
    The Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, has now added further anticipation of a return to eminence by meting out such punishment to Sir Alex Ferguson's side. United, overcome at Stamford Bridge, have been beaten twice in a row and although they still lead the Premier League, Arsenal will take heart.
    This match contained a goal, set up by Luis Suárez, that was bewitching, but it also held the attention with ugly incidents.
    Phil Dowd might well have sent off Liverpool's Jamie Carragher following a foul that saw Nani taken out of the game on a stretcher, and Rafael da Silva for a two-footed lunge that happened to leave Lucas unscathed. There was also, however, fine play for Liverpool to secure two goals by the 39th minute.
    United, including Rafael and Dimitar Berbatov, put a misjudged emphasis on adventure, although the Bulgarian did clip the outside of the post with a shot when the match was goalless. Liverpool were by far the better side and took merited goals, even if Ferguson's men were hapless at the second. It hardly affected the hosts that the back four had to be rejigged in the 24th minute when the injured Fábio Aurélio was replaced by Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
    Dalglish's side took the lead 10 minutes later. Having won the ball from Steven Gerrard, Berbatov gave away possession. The consequences were devastating because of the exquisite skill that was shown as the ball was switched to the left. Suárez dribbled past Rafael, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown before prodding the ball through the legs of Edwin van der Sar, with Kuyt knocking it home.
    The second goal was merely absurd, with Nani leaping to a cross from Suárez and miscuing a header towards his own six-yard line, where the Dutchman nodded home. United tried to recover, but Liverpool still had a desire to attack and Kuyt had his third goal after 65 minutes, pouncing for a gleefully finish as Van der Sar spilled a Suárez free-kick. The United substitute Javier Hernández did score from a Giggs cross in stoppage time, but it was scarcely noticed by either set of players, let alone the Anfield crowd.
    Liverpool's jubilation was completed with the introduction from the bench of the £35m debutant Andy Carroll.

 
Liverpool v Manchester United: Five things we learned

Kenny Dalglish should be appointed permanently, Michael Carrick disappointed and Luis Suárez is no Dutch flop


Liverpools-Dirk-Kuyt-cele-007.jpg
Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt celebrates with Luis Suárez after scoring against Manchester United at Anfield. Photograph: Tim Hales/AP 1) Kenny Dalglish has to be appointed as full-time manager now

What's the delay? Liverpool, once again, is a happy place to be. The change in atmosphere is quite remarkable, both in the stands and out on the pitch. The players' body language has changed, as if they have been reminded about what it actually means to play for this club. On 29 December, Liverpool lost here, 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Roy Hodgson's players left the pitch to a mixture of disbelief and voluble anger. It feels like a trick of the mind now. Two months on, Kenny Dalglish has reinvigorated the place. We know he is the man for the job. The fans who serenaded him with a chorus of "Happy birthday" know it makes sense. Over to you, John W Henry.
2) Luis Suárez is more Dennis Bergkamp than Alfonso Alves

When a striker joins English football from the Dutch league there is a natural tendency to reserve judgment. Blame Alfonso Alves, the scorer of 45 goals in one Eredivisie season for Heerenveen who could not tell the difference between a goal and a barn door at Middlesbrough. Or Mateja Kezman, who scored 105 goals in 122 games for PSV Eindhoven but was hopeless for Chelsea. Luis Suárez, however, had already shown in these embryonic stages of his Liverpool career that he could prove to have been an astute piece of transfer business. His vision and awareness of space was a feature of Liverpool's domination; the slalom past four players for the first goal was the game's outstanding moment.
3) Gary Neville might not be around, but the spite is still there

And probably always will be when these two sides lock horns. That little period at the end of the first half, when the tackles started flying and tempers became frayed, reminded us how much it matters for both clubs not to give an inch to their rivals. The referee, Phil Dowd, did a reasonably good job of maintaining a sense of control but he also got the key decisions wrong. Jamie Carragher deserved to be sent off and Rafael da Silva, if to a slightly lesser extent, was also fortunate he did not get a red card for the immature way in which he dived in on Lucas Leiva.
4) Nani is still the kid in the playground

Maybe that's a little harsh and to give him his due Nani, who was taken off on a stretcher at the end of the first half, was entitled to be upset by Jamie Carragher's tackle. And the impact of football studs on flesh – at speed – can be painful in the extreme. And maybe Nani's head was still a little blurred by his accidental contribution to Liverpool's second goal. But crying? Bryan Robson never cried. Roy Keane never cried. Heck, we never even saw tears from Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who wrote the book on football prima donnas. Sorry to sound unsympathetic, but this is not a fixture in which to start blubbing. Don't think for one second that Sir Alex Ferguson was giving Nani a cuddle and passing him chocolate drops in the dressing room. As Tommy Smith growled in the pressbox: "It's Liverpool against Manchester United, for Christ's sake."
5) Michael Carrick is no Xabi Alonso

It would be unfair to make Carrick the only scapegoat for United when the truth is that so many of Ferguson's players could have done better. Wes Brown demonstrated at times why Ferguson has not started him in the Premier League for over a year; Wayne Rooney was on the edges; the usually unflappable Edwin ver dar Sar had a bad afternoon; and we have dealt with Nani above. Yet Carrick leaves you wanting so much more. This is a man who could be United's Xabi Alonso but who never steps forward, as though he does not have it in his personality to decide it is going to be his moment. Is it a question of self belief? Carrick is 30 this year and at that age it is fair to say we will probably never see the player he really could be. He signed a new contract at Old Trafford last week and the reaction among the supporters was underwhelming, to say the least.

 
Liverpool v Manchester United &#8211; in pictures

The best images from Anfield where Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool host Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United





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What a day to make a debut this would be for Andy Carroll. Following his £35m move from Newcastle in January, Carroll is finally fit and ready to pull on the No9 jersey for Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish has, predictably, named him among the substitutes, so perhaps a second-half introduction awaits Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images


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Liverpool v Manchester United – in pictures

The best images from Anfield where Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool host Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United





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What a day to make a debut this would be for Andy Carroll. Following his £35m move from Newcastle in January, Carroll is finally fit and ready to pull on the No9 jersey for Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish has, predictably, named him among the substitutes, so perhaps a second-half introduction awaits Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images


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