Manchester United secured three vital points with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Two early second half goals from Wayne Rooney secured a victory for the Red Devils, with Luis Suarez replying for the visitors with a late consolation effort.
It wasn’t the only incident that the Uruguayan was involved in though.
Controversy
There has been lots of discussion about pre-match handshakes in recent weeks and today’s produced a moment of controversy. As the two sets of players conducted the pre-match handshake Liverpool striker Luis Suarez refused to shake Patrice Evra’s hand.
The United player reacted and tried to grab the Uruguayan’s arm. United defender Rio Ferdinand also decided not to shake the Liverpool’s strikers hand. No doubt this saga will run and run. The unfortunate incident has rather distracted from the very important victory that United achieved.
Vital
The victory took Manchester United back to the top of the Premier League table. It was a crucial victory after the Red Devils drew 3-3 at Chelsea last weekend. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men can’t afford anymore slip ups this season with Manchester City ready to take advantage of any mistakes.
United’s rivals still have a game in-hand but are currently a point behind the champions. City face a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday. It won’t be an easy game for the Citizens but it was important that United didn’t fall too far behind Roberto Mancini’s men.
Toothless
Liverpool was pretty toothless in attack and struggled to make an impact on the United defence until the final minutes of the game. Kenny Dalglish brought on the likes of Andy Carroll and Craig Bellamy from the substitutes bench but neither made much of a difference to the game.
Liverpool’s goal came from a mistake from Rio Ferdinand, who laid the ball on a plate for Luis Suarez to score from close range. Liverpool then looked slightly more of a threat but their best chance was a Suarez header, which the Uruguayan headed over. The referee’s assistant flagged for offside and the effort wouldn’t have counted.
If Liverpool are to claim a top four place the Reds will need to find more of a cutting edge. Suarez has looked Liverpool’s biggest threat this season and he will have to be at his best if Liverpool are to challenge for those Champions League places.
Shame
The meetings between these two giants of English football have been ruined by the Luis Suarez/Patrice Evra saga in recent games. There has always been a rivalry because of the history of the two clubs and the location of the two clubs.
The racism row has increased the animosity between the two sets of fans. These things happen in football and without these incidents football would be less interesting but I think this drama needs to be put to bed for the sake of both clubs.
Luis Suarez isn’t doing himself or the club any good with his decision not to shake Evra’s hand. If he would have shaken Evra’s hand it would have taken a lot of the sting out of the whole situation and reduced the controversy.
Drama
Like a lot of these big clashes it wasn’t the best game of football but it was full of drama and controversy. These sorts of incidents do increase interest in the Premier League but its all for the wrong reasons.
Should Luis Suarez have shaken Patrice Evra’s hand?
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