It may not have lived up to Sir Alex Ferguson's billing
as the greatest match-up in English football but Liverpool's
1-1 draw at home to Manchester United was typically
not without incident.
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• Premier League gallery
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was denied a dream
return to the starting line-up when his free-kick midway
through the second half was cancelled out by substitute
Javier Hernandez's late header.
The England international put seven months of rehabilitation
behind him after a groin operation in March by capping
an assured performance in midfield with the goal which
looked like extending his side's home dominance over
their arch-rivals.
However, Hernandez prevented a fourth successive United
defeat at Anfield - which has not happened since 1979
- to maintain his team's unbeaten record this season.
It also denied Liverpool a happier anniversary than
the one they were enjoying after marking the 12 months
to the day since they were bought by Americans Fenway
Sports Group.
Wayne Rooney's demotion to the bench summed up his
miserable week after his England sending-off and subsequent
three-match ban for Euro 2012, which was the talking
point before kick-off.
Once the match kicked off there were plenty of others
- mainly in the second half - with Rio Ferdinand's disputed
foul on Charlie Adam which could have resulted in the
defender seeing red and United goalkeeper David de Gea's
impressive performance just two.
The first half was essentially about trying to establish
a grip on the game and although Liverpool had the better
of that scrap early on United had done enough to restore
the balance by the interval.
Both sides had chances to open the scoring with Phil
Jones, playing in midfield, heading Patrice Evra's deep
left-wing cross into the side-netting when he should
have done better.
A similar accusation could have been levelled at Luis
Suarez, who looked like he would give Rio Ferdinand
a torrid time after their opening exchanges but found
the United defender a worthy opponent as the half drew
on.
The Uruguay international found himself with only David
de Gea to beat when Charlie Adam's 34th-minute shot
kindly rebounded off Jonny Evans but the striker shot
straight at the goalkeeper who parried the ball to safety.
Gerrard found the midfield a little too crowded for
his liking and rarely got the space or opportunity to
have much impact.
Early in the second half Ashley Young's 25-yard free-kick
briefly had Jose Reina scrambling to claim at the second
attempt but the tide was gradually turning in favour
of the hosts.
They felt they should have had a penalty when Dirk
Kuyt's header struck the arm of Evans. And when Ferdinand,
who had been booked for an earlier foul on Suarez, tripped
a charging Adam with the slightest of touches as he
threatened to break into the penalty area, the Liverpool
fans were convinced he should have been sent off.
Gerrard, however, exacted a greater punishment when
he curled home a low shot from the resulting 25-yard
free-kick after Ryan Giggs left a space in the wall.
Rooney and Nani were immediately sent on, with the
latter blazing a shot well over, before fellow substitute
Hernandez was introduced for the final 15 minutes.
And he made his mark within six minutes of coming on
as Danny Welbeck flicked on a left-wing cross and the
youngster headed home unmarked at the far post.
But United were indebted to De Gea, who has come in
for a fair amount of criticism in his maiden season,
as the Spaniard threw himself to his left to deny Dirk
Kuyt.
He was in action again in injury time when he acrobatically
tipped over a shot from Henderson, with the Liverpool
midfielder also having a chance to win it even later
only his header from Stewart Downing's cross dropping
onto the roof of the net.
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