manchester united 1 (ferdinand 90' + 1') liverpool 0

despite all my lamenting of a boring game throughout the match(in tandem with interspersed curses and swears), in hindsight, the game wasn't all that bad. all it lacked was goals to set the match alight. i guess the game got much better, with liverpool almost doing a chelsea on united when rio ferdinand had to clear almost off the line to save united's skin that really got some adrenaline pumping in that heart stopping moment. in all fairness, neither team deserved to lose. like united at highbury, both teams adopted a highly tactical approach to the game, leading to a rather dour and cautious duel between 2 teams of such historic and legerndary rivalry. in the end, one extremely outstanding united player stole the show, with a performance on the night that shone through like a lighthouse on a foggy evening.

at £120,000 a week, rio ferdinand is one the most expensively paid footballers in the world, and has been of late the subject of a lot rather justified criticism. often lambasted this season for united's defensive frailties, some wonder why sir alex ferguson puts up with his hefty wages. what an occassion to choose to tell the critics to stuff it. rio was in tremendous form tonight. while he might have made one or two too many forward runs, he single-handedly(or footedly) saved united's hide on more than one occassion on the night, displaying the strong calm and elegance that convinced fergie to part with £30 million to sign him.

while it might already be too late to catch chelsea this season, the signs are there that the blue juggernaut can be stopped in the seasons to come. two very lethal and potent red giants stalk the london blues. and they're not too happy about playing second fiddle to them.