5 times Liverpool destroyed Manchester United in the Premier League era

The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool is one of the most storied and bitter in all of English football, and regardless of the fortunes of either side, it still remains one of the biggest fixtures in the country when it comes around, be it in the league or one of the cup competitions.

Recent years have certainly been kinder to United – since the inauguration of the Premier League in 1992/93, the Red Devils have lifted the league title thirteen times, while Liverpool have never won the trophy. But that doesn’t mean that the rivalry has been all one-way traffic. Despite never winning the Premier League, Liverpool have certainly destroyed their biggest rivals on a number of occasions in the Premier League era, and here are five of them.

#5 Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United – 31st March 2001

2000/01 was one of the most successful Premier League seasons for Manchester United – they won the league title at a canter, finishing ten points ahead of runners-up Arsenal and eleven in front of Liverpool, who finished in third place. The likes of Teddy Sheringham, David Beckham and Paul Scholes were arguably at their absolute peak at that point – but their bitter Liverpudlian rivals had the last laugh over them, completing a league double over them.

Their win at Old Trafford came in December 2000 via a lone goal from Danny Murphy, but their second victory – at Anfield, thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard and Robbie Fowler – was far more impressive. Admittedly, United were without a trio of key players in Scholes, Andy Cole and Jaap Stam, but Liverpool also rested their best striker in Michael Owen and still dismantled United, giving them essentially no chance of winning the game from the off.

The key to Liverpool’s victory was the young Steven Gerrard, who had only just broken through as a hot prospect but was still able to dominate even Roy Keane in the midfield battles. He scored an incredible long-range drive in the 16th minute to put Liverpool in command of the game and went on to set up Fowler’s goal shortly before half-time – the goal that killed the game. Even the sending-off of Danny Murphy couldn’t turn the tide for United, and Liverpool almost added a late third through Emile Heskey.

It might’ve only been a consolation given United’s dominance in the league, but it proved Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool side weren’t that far behind them.

#4 Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United – 4th November 2001

Although they didn’t win the league – Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side picked up their second Premier League trophy in 2001/02 – Liverpool did finish second in the table; one place above Manchester United, managing to top their rivals for the first time in the Premier League era. Again, they managed two league victories over the Red Devils, and like in the previous season, it was their victory at Anfield that was more impressive.

This game belonged to England striker Michael Owen – probably at the peak of his powers after a great 2000/01 season that saw him score the winning goal in the FA Cup final, and right before a tremendous World Cup showing – as he scored two goals to ensure the Reds downed their rivals. United’s central defensive partnership of Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown simply couldn’t handle him, and his goals were classic Owen. His first came from a sudden burst of pace to latch onto a deflected ball, and seconds later he’d beaten keeper Fabien Barthez with ease.

Liverpool’s next goal was even better – a brutal free-kick from defender John Arne Riise – and despite David Beckham pulling one back with a rare left-footed strike, Owen then settled the game with a classic poacher’s goal – heading into an empty net following a missed catch from Barthez. United actually enjoyed more possession in the game but simply couldn’t carve out enough chances, and so the game was won by Owen – the ultimate predator at the head of Liverpool’s attack – paving the way for Liverpool to finish above United in the final table.

#3 Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool, 14th March 2009

The 2008/09 season saw Liverpool in a race against Manchester United for the Premier League title, and although Rafael Benitez’s side fell at the final hurdle – they missed the title by just four points, despite losing two fewer games than United – they did claim some pride in March as they dismantled United 4-1 at Old Trafford to keep their hopes alive, although in the end they were dashed by Alex Ferguson’s men yet again.

The game though was United’s heaviest defeat all season, as well as their heaviest home defeat since 1992 – well over a decade. It also came despite them taking an early lead through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. But when Fernando Torres capitalised on a mistake from Nemanja Vidic and slotted past Edwin Van Der Sar less than ten minutes later, the tide turned in an instant. Torres – aided by the likes of Steven Gerrard in midfield – was too hot for Vidic to handle and gave him a torrid game.

Liverpool took the lead in the 44th minute through a Gerrard penalty after he was tripped by Patrice Evra, and they then extended in the second half through a free-kick from Fabio Aurelio following the sending-off of Vidic, as he committed a professional foul on Gerrard. The fourth goal was a pub quiz classic – scored by Italian left-winger Andrea Dossena. He only played 18 times for Liverpool and this was his only goal. Despite United having the last laugh with their league win, this was a truly humiliating defeat for them to endure.

#2 Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United, 6th March, 2011

The 2010/11 season was one of the worst Premier League efforts for Liverpool – they finished 6th in the table following a diabolical start under the reign of Roy Hodgson, who was subsequently fired and replaced by club legend Kenny Dalglish in January. Although the arrival of Dalglish did steady the ship, it didn’t really change the Reds’ fortunes for the season – but he still managed to pull off one tremendous win – a 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Anfield.

The win by Liverpool blew the title race wide open as United were leading the table at that stage, and although they did go on to win the league by a strong margin of nine points, the Liverpool victory certainly proved that the Red Devils were beatable. The star of the show was Dutch jack-of-all-trades Dirk Kuyt, who scored a hat-trick, becoming the first Liverpool player to score one against United since Peter Beardsley back in the pre-Premier League era in 1990. But Luis Suarez – one of Dalglish’s new signings – also played a pivotal role, creating two of Kuyt’s goals with some sublime skills.

By the time Javier Hernandez scored a consolation goal in added time, the game was far beyond United’s reach and Liverpool had picked up a tremendous win – arguably their best result of the entire season. It was the perfect birthday present for Dalglish, who had turned 60 two days before the game. For Suarez, it was a sign of the brilliance that was about to come from the Uruguayan striker over the next few seasons, and for Kuyt, it was arguably his probably his all-time high point in a Liverpool shirt.

#1 Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool, 16th March 2014

The closest Liverpool have ever been to actually lifting the Premier League title was undoubtedly the 2013/14 season, as Brendan Rodgers’ side – fuelled by the goals of Daniel Sturridge, the brilliance of Luis Suarez, the leadership of Steven Gerrard and the youthful exuberance of Raheem Sterling – led the title race until slipping at the very end, allowing Manchester City to pip them to victory. Before those final disastrous results, though, they went on a dominant run of eleven wins in a row – and the biggest of those was a 0-3 win over Man United at Old Trafford.

For United, it was a season that started badly and simply got worse. David Moyes was still in charge at the time of the game although it was clear that he was way out of his depth, and the way Liverpool destroyed his team here simply underlined the gulf between the two sides at the time. Liverpool’s captain Gerrard opened the scoring with a penalty on 34 minutes after a handball from United defender Rafael, and he doubled the lead with another spot-kick later on. Incredibly, he could’ve had a hat-trick of penalties – Nemanja Vidic saw red for the fourth time against Liverpool after fouling Daniel Sturridge – but this time the captain hit the post.

It honestly didn’t matter. United’s attacking players – the likes of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie – simply couldn’t get into the game, and a late goal from Suarez – his 24th of the season – just summed things up. It was painfully clear from this game that the days of United’s Ferguson-led dominance were over and this was Liverpool’s big chance to leapfrog their old rivals for good. While that didn’t turn out to be the case, in the long run, it was certainly true in this game and in the 2013/14 season overall.