Liverpool have ended Manchester United's two-year dominance at Anfield, beating the Premiership champions 2-1 on Saturday. Substitute Ryan Babel snatched the winner for the Reds, after Wes Brown's own goal cancelled out Carlos Tevez's early opener for United. New signing Dimitar Berbatov started for United, alongside Tevez and Wayne Rooney in a three-man attack line. On the other hand, Liverpool's inspirational duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were left out of the starting line-up as they were still not 100% fit. United, who were victors in the corresponding fixture during the past couple of seasons, were off to a flying start at Anfield, thanks to a wonderful team goal. Anderson sent Berbatov on the right flank and the latter threaded back a smooth pass to Tevez, who fired in an unstoppable shot past Jose Reina. A few minutes later, Edwin Van der Sar produced an incredible save to deny compatriot Dirk Kuyt from close range. However, the Holland keeper was largely responsible for Liverpool's equalizer when he failed to deal with a loose ball, forcing an own goal off the hapless Brown. Gerrard and Babel came in midway through the second half, but the latter provided the magic touch for Rafa Benitez's side 13 minutes from the end. Ryan Giggs' failure to secure a goal-kick allowed Javier Mascherano to steal the ball as Kuyt intervened to win it before setting up Babel, who hit the roof of the net from 12 yards. In injury time, Nemanja Vidic received his marching orders for a second bookable offence. The Serbian will miss the game with Chelsea next weekend.
