It just doesn’t get any better than this, two of the biggest names in world football humiliated by The Mighty Reds! I knew that we were very capable of putting it up to the mancs and I hoped that we might pinch the win we needed but even Nostradamus couldn’t have predicted such an emphatic 4 - 1 victory for our lads at the Theatre of Illusions. Once again I was as happy as Wayne Rooney at a glamorous granny contest and I can assure you that there was much alcohol consumed here at Kopblog HQ in celebration and even though I woke up the next morning with a hangover of biblical proportions I was still smiling, and I still am.

I remember a number of years ago a grey-shirted Man Utd team found themselves 3-0 down at Southampton and during the interval Alex Fungusface had them change into a different coloured kit claiming that his players couldn’t see each other properly in gray. At the time we all laughed at his incredibly lame excuse but maybe he did have a point afterall because on Saturday it was our heroes who were wearing gray and once again the manc players seemed to have great difficulty finding them!

I must admit I was worried in the early stages. Losing Arbeloa in the warm-up and having to re-arrange our defence at the last minute was about as welcome as a hedgehog in a condom factory, and there did seem to be a little uncertainty in our back line early on. Then we conceded a penalty and I was really starting to get that sinking feeling but it turned out to be just the spur we needed. A lesser team might well have let their heads drop in such circumstances but our team seemed to grow stronger and they showed a huge amount of character to fight their way back into the game.

Thankfully it only took us 6 minutes to find an equaliser. It’s true that any schoolboy footballer would have headed away the long ball that Vidic allowed to bounce, however even allowing for that mistake most of the time he would have got away with it but there again most of the time he isn’t up against Liverpool’s No 9!

I think you’ve got to give full credit to the great predatory instincts of Torres for the goal. As soon as the defender hesitated Nando smelled blood and was on to it in an instant. He showed magnificent power and pace to muscle his way past Vidic and yet still managed to keep a cool head to slot the ball past the outstretched hand of the keeper and into the corner of the net.

A lot of people have claimed that the centre back pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic is the best in the world at the moment but unfortunately a lot of teams just don’t put the mancs defence under anything like the kind of pressure that we applied on Saturday and throughout the game you could clearly see that Torres in particular scared the life out of them.

There was evidence of this again on the second goal. Once the ball went to Fernando they backed off and backed off which allowed him to have plenty of space to roll it through to Gerrard who was taken down for a penalty and who showed a great captain’s courage to confidently finish from the spot in front of the home fans. This was a little piece of history because I did some intensive research and found that the last person to be awarded a penalty at the Stretford End was Richard the Lionheart!

It was great to get to half-time 2-1 in front and there was an astonishing moment during the interval when someone on Sly Sports actually said something sensible. I know that may seem hard to believe to those of you watching different coverage in other parts of the world but they do say if you keep talking long enough you might inadvertently say something intelligent and this seems to have been what happened.

I was that stunned that I can’t actually remember who said it but I distinctly heard somebody say, “United are in real trouble now because once Liverpool get their nose’s in front, they are the best team in the world at holding on to a lead.” Shocking stuff I’m sure you’ll agree but I guess even a blind squirrel can occasionally find an acorn and I’m sure normal service will soon be returned.

In the second half I expected a bit of an onslaught from the mancs as they attempted to get into it but we dealt with them fairly comfortably and Pepe hardly had a save to make. Thankfully all doubt about the result was ended when we extended our lead after a good attacking move finished with Vidic being sent off for wrestling Gerrard to the ground and Fabulous Aurelio hit the resulting free-kick so brilliantly that even the United keeper Van Der Sulk stood and watched it admiringly as it curled into the corner of his net.

We were so much in control of the game at that point that we could even afford for Gerrard to hit a Keane-like finish high over the bar when it seemed harder to miss. But the cherry on the cake came from another straightforward long ball that the “super” manc defence failed to deal with and fair play to Dossena for showing the desire to get on the end of it and hitting a perfect lob over the keeper and into the net. Of course there were few manc fans left in the stadium to see his goal because like the paper supporters we know them to be, they blew away at the first signs of an ill wind.

So it was a great performance and a well deserved 4-1 win to The Reds and if Rafa truly is cracking up then I hope he keeps on cracking! However at the end of the game it seemed to me that there was one person cracking up and it certainly wasn’t Benitez. Given the fact that it was such a long time since the mancs suffered such a mauling at home that their ground at the time was simply called Trafford, it seemed incredible for their bitter boss Alex Fungushead to claim he was particularly disappointed with the defeat because he felt his team were the better side.

His comments left me as confused as a blind lesbian at a fish market and I wondered was he watching the same game. Having watched the game again it was clear to see that their defence were like snowmen, as soon as the heat came on them they melted. Their midfielders Park, Carrick and Milli Vanilli Anderson were about as much use as a trap door in a lifeboat and their attack was just as bad. It may have just been the time of month but Ladyboy Ronaldo certainly had a bad hair day. Tevez can be a very useful forward but for some strange reason he only seems to play well when there’s a full moon and then of course we have our old friend Rooney.

Apeboy Rooney is a person who makes it easy to understand why some mammals eat their own young. He’s the kind of footballer who doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear, in fact he doesn’t know the meaning of most words. Ahead of the game he said he hated us, which is a real shame because we all think so highly of him. His boss tried to distance him from the comments but I believe Rooney was just trying to attract some publicity because I hear on the grapevine that Oscar winning director Danny Boyle is currently working on a film about his life story, apparently it’s going to be called Scumbag Millionaire!

But enough about those clowns, after the game Rafa said that we’ve played better and I agree with him. Don’t get me wrong, I was delighted with the brilliant result and it was a very good performance but, unlike in our game against Real Madrid where I thought all of our players deserved 10 out of 10, I thought we had one or two players on the day that can do better.

Pepe Reina is normally rock solid but his handling was a little nervy and I was thankful he didn’t have too much to deal with and I was disappointed once again with Riera. After making such a bright start to his Liverpool career his performances have gone downhill in my opinion and since Christmas I could count the number of his good displays on the fingers of one finger. On Saturday he just seemed to be constantly losing the ball and a number of our attacks died at his feet. I know I’m being a bit pedantic given the excellent result but my point is that while some people may claim the mancs can play a lot better, I believe that so can we.

This result will be another huge boost to our confidence at an important time. We are in good shape in the Champions League but in the league we have nine games left and we’ve got to win them all. We’ve got to aim for 88 points and hope that it is enough. As for the mancs, there’s no doubt this defeat will have hurt them but they are still in a great position and perhaps the best thing we achieved on Saturday is to sow some seeds of doubt in their mind. How badly this might affect them, I guess only time will tell.

We haven’t got another game until our big Premiership clash with Villa at Anfield on Sunday so we’ll have plenty of time to rest up any aches and pains from our efforts at the weekend. But before then we’ll have the Champions League draw on Friday which should be interesting. As our well merited number one UEFA ranking implies, we are extremely well capable of dealing with any of the remaining teams in the competition. Still it would be nice if we got drawn against one of the slightly softer touch’s such as Porto, Villareal or if we’re very lucky maybe even Man Utd!

On a final note, it’s St Patricks Day tomorrow and I’ll be busy wetting the shamrock and attempting to convince the Dutch barmaid in my local boozer that it’s a day when everyone should have a bit of Irish in them, if you take my meaning! Anyway happy St Paddy’s Day to you all. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Keep the Faith