The reward of a thing well done is to have done it -- Ralph Waldo Emerson. FANTASTIC!!! What can I say about today's performance? My strange telepathic optimism shared with Frank this morning was at last well founded. Our team played with their heart and soul, never giving up, chasing all causes, which are the elements of what I always liked about Man Utd. Special mention though to some truly outstanding players tonight - Ronaldo was again simply superb b" an unstoppable magician, Rio exceptionally assured, Keano back to his tackling best, Heinze b" our new Dennis Irwin, steady as a rock, Giggs industrious as usual and Silvestre, finally doing something right. I've mentioned that this could be the beginning of something and hopefully; we'll emulate this performance by obliterating Spurs this weekend. Now all we need is for others to drop points. Although there is always room for improvement, don't forget that we still have Rooney, Gary, Saha and others to return (plus new players to show off b" e.g. Rossi) so dare I say - things are looking really great at the moment...Finally!!! (Even though it's based on just one match...)

Finally, an overall good effort and display. Rio made a huge difference to the defence, Keano was magnificent in mid field (oh Scholes, where are you?). Ronnie, what can you say about him? Outstanding again. Even Giggs was playing at an acceptable level tonight, especially defensively when he switched to the right side in the second half. Apart from the first 15 minutes or so on the seond half, when it looked like we were up to our old tricks of folding up the tent and going home, a very solid and encouraging display. Heinze is not one for the future, he's arrived now. Solid. Could be a partnership with Rio that we haven't seen since Pallister and Bruce were around. Encouraging, let's hope this will be a springboard, and we can put together a decent run. Geez, it's ALWAYS great to stuff the scousers isn't it?

Pheeew.......................Is this the sign of better things to come? Can Rio be our talisman ala Cantona? I pray so. Good game. First match of the season where i didn't rip out my hair

A brilliant first half performance. I haven't seen us play that well that months. Rio Ferdinand played like a world class defender, which he is. The difference he made to our defence was amazing. Wes Brown and Silvestre looked solid and confident. What the hell happened to Silvestre? This season he has looked dodgy and unconfident. Today Rio returned and he looked like the solid strong defender again. We where unlucky with the goal we concided although O'Shea maybe could have done better. We dominated the game and i haven't seen us beat Liverpool that comfortably for a while. They never really looked like scoring until the last 10 min. Ronaldo was excellent, he was a constant threat to Liverpool and is improving all the time. The only dissapointment of the game was Paul Scholes. He still looks off form and maybe should be dropped in favour of Smith for a while. I have to mention Roy Keane performance, he was brilliant. He tackled and drove the team like he has done in the past. I wasn't happy about O'Shea selection but i have to admit he played well alongside Keane.

Finally, what we've all been waiting for. A performance to lift the cloud thats been hanging round OT for six weeks. We needed our big players to stand up and be noticed and thats what they did. Keane was his inspirational old self breaking up the play and leading by example again. Giggs Seems to turn it on when Ronaldo inspires him and that was the free flowing Giggs that we all know and love. Having Rio back in the heart of our defence gave me that safe feeling i used to get seeing the great dane between the sticks...you all know the feeling im talking about. But what can i say about the boy wonder? He has so much pace and ability its scary. There is no better winger in the world at the moment and the fact that he's 19 says there wont be for another 10yrs.......Still loads of room for improvment for the boys though. Scholes certainly needs to pull the finger out and if we can just get some consistancy..... Anyway with a performance like that and Rooney nearly back - lets just watch the space eh?..well done boys!!

That was worth staying up for everybody seemed to be playing in their normal position and RK was able to go about his own job instead of covering back all the time, if they play like that for the rest of the season, No Problem Rooney and Saha still to come back.

well done..i'm just so thrilled that we beat the scouser...good effort tho at times we look vulnerable..welcome back Rio we miss u..for now mission accomplished..thanks Silvs for the goals..hope we pick up some speed from here..Glory Glory United..

Red thru x2

Kudos to SAF! Kudos for dropping Howard. (next thing is to sell him). I applaud MU for going through the fire unscathed and better still, with all 3 pts. MU played well n deserved the win. It can only get better. The only faint point of concern is tat our strikers didnt score and our goals came from set pieces. Is this a sign that there are still issues yet to be resolved? I think wat SAF shd do now is to find a successor to Keane and GIggs before it comes back to haunt Man Utd. For such a big club, we cant keep explaining our drop in std tt we are in a transition. Buy, steal or groom. There shd focus now on bring a new replacement in midfield - not just a good replacement...a special one

In this game more chances were created than any other, a string of complete passes, sometimes very imaginative, were made. More determination, more courage and most of all a defence that works in unison. Maybe people will now realize that missing half a dozen of your first team players will cause trouble at this level, and maybe the next time this happens, "true" fans will be less impatient and have more belief. Those who think that your squad players should be good as your first team are not realistic, no team in the world has 22 world class players, it never happened and it's just not possible for multiple reasons.

Wonderful to win again and of all team, it was LiverFOOL who became our renaissance victim! Well done lads, especially Ronaldo and Heinze, you guys made the difference! Bring on Spurs!

What a fantastic match!, (especially in the 1st half.) We derserve more goals. For me, Ronaldo was MOTM, he was brilliant and running amok at their defenders!.. they just cant handle him! Rio was fantastic! brings stability, calmness to our defence. I'm not great fan of Silvestre but have to say his goals were superb! I felt all played well yesterday! Hope we continue this and end Spur's unbeaten run next! Devil's back!

What a difference a Rio makes!!! Seriously I've said it before (Ref: Sal the Kid and Barry, Harrow) United have a defence that equals if not betters the Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Parker quartet that was our backbone for almost a decade. With Rio back he instills a confidence which makes him the best centre half in the world. Mary, Sale I suppose the likes of Keane, Giggs, Scholes, and Silvestre (all players you have really slated in this site for months) should still be sent packing!!! I think United will build on this superb result and I also think that some team will be hit for 6 or 7 goals by United too. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I think that United will be alot stronger for all the bad luck etc they've had. Come on the mighty devils!!!!

First half was brilliant, we looked the business. Second half we took the foot off a little, but deserved the win. If I had any complaints it would be that the gaffer still won't risk 2 strikers. Why can't we start a normal 4-4-2? Scholes next to Keane and Smith with RvN.
But it's only a little complaint....can't really ask for more when we've just stuffed the scousers!

First the plaudits. Well done to the team for our best game since December last year, and a warm welcome to Rio, who was excellent. Now the questions that are tearing me into two - Why does our play fall apart when we concede a goal? (i actually wanted to see how we would respond if liverpool equalised, and boy did i see it!!)Why isn't our midfield functioning? Why does Fergie risk dropping points by selecting Scholes & O' Shea when its so bloody obvious that Smith/Saha/Kleberson and i dare say it, Djemba, would have resulted in a much more effective performance? (Not that i blame O'Shea for the goal which was sheer bad luck). Could it be true that SAF is the problem? Hope these questions are resolved soon otherwise roll on Spurs!!

In the wake of a string of poor performances, last night's win was a much awaited joy for Utd's fans, myself included. It is particularly pleasing to watch Rio's and Ron's fine displays. However, the underlining problem of the irrational way by which SAF selected the team remains: (a) why OShea was picked ahead of Smith was difficult to understand. I counted no less than three goal opportunities fell to OShea. Had it been Smith in OShea's shoes (or head), at least one of them would have gone into the net. (b) why SAF insisted on a 451 formation with Scholes in the hole in a game we must win was even more difficult to appreciate. Scholes was clearly uncomfortable and ineffective playing behind RVN. RVN too was forced to fight for balls outside the box. The fact that both goals came from our defender vindicated the deficiency of the 451 formation in this match. As a Utd fan, I hope last night's win will tick start a good run for Utd, however, it is likely that SAF will seize the win to justify his irrational team selection and continue to deploy OShea in the midfield, a position he is neither trained nor suited to play.

While I appreciate the right of the doubters who have slated the club in general for the last 2 months last night proved that we do have the potential to beat anyone. I know it was only the scousers but the fight was there for all to see. First half great in poor conditions. Second half we wobbled when we scored for them. Their fans celebrated that goal like they'd won the league!! Have to applaud some of the management selection decisions and scratch my head at others. All in all a great result, gives us a morale boost and the rest of the league and some pundits [Hansen] must be looking over their shoulders and thinking they may have been too quick to write us off. Saturday will be a harder game against a Spurs side that has proven hard to beat under Santini. See you at Euston Saturday dinner! MUFC OK.
PS..Welcome back Rio - excellent performance but MOM Roy Keane bossed it!
PPS..Ronaldo awesome - plays on the right and makes Beckham look rubbish!

It is always great to beat the scousers! The first half performance was better but when are we going to get 90 minutes? I am still baffled why we play with one striker. Why did we sign Smith when he cant even get a game when Saha and Rooney aren't available? As for last summers signings who would benefit from their first year, then where were Howard, Djemba Kleberson and Bellion? We could n't find buyers for this lot on ebay! One swallow does not a summer make, still time to go Alex

Whoever said drop Mik is an idiot! Nah, Nah I said drop him a hint about heading like, you know what I mean. Great team performance, the crowd were brilliant as always and the team wasn't that bad. Rio and Ron, 2 magnificent performances not appreciated by the press, Heinze just gets better and Roy finally did his talking on the pitch. Still with all the midfielders we have we're playing a defender in midfield, and the supply to Ruud was non existent. 7 points off the lead and 5 off relegation, heading in the right direction. PS, Cantona's Voice, at least we know a bit about footie shame about the rest, just kiddin lads.

Before i get into what a pleasure it was to watch a United team attacking a team with conviction again i am going to have a little moan. I think AS should of played last night instead of JOS who to often let the game by-pass him and as he was the further forward of the 2 central midfielder often he got into good positions but looked like what he is a defender on the edge of the opposing penalty area, i think AS could of played that role better as he showed when he came on he can tackle but would also of given us more going forward and secondly Carrol is not a good keeper and everytime the ball went near him i had kittens he was going to make a mistake and i have to say i thought he was in no mans land for the goal and his kicking is so poor for a pro player. However like i said it was nice to see us attacking and at last PS, RG and RK put in good performances but again Ronaldo was a delight to watch and i don't think either full back tackled him all night. At last i can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Important result for us and a lot of positives - Rio, Wes, Ronaldo, Heinze and a MOTM performance from Keane. However, I don't feel that we should be playing 4-5-1 at home - RvN was just outnumbered and anonymous all night. Smith must be wondering what he's done wrong. Also, why do we always seem to take our foot off the gas when we go ahead? It was obvious that the Scum were going to equalise right from the start of the second half - we seemed to be inviting it by over-elaborating and giving the ball away. Lastly, does anyone know if the search parties they sent out to find Paul Scholes have come back yet? He must be out there somewhere......

YYYYEEEESSS!!
If that first half is anything to go by, we're back, and we're coming to get you Arsenal. Ronaldo is the mutts nuts - how many times did he make the scouse defenders look like schoolboys? Surely he's the best in the world at the moment? Rooney will have a fight on his hands to be the best youngster in this team - although it's going to be a nice fight. This season has just started for us and we could see some great spells of attacking football like the good old days. Great stuff lads, welcome back Rio, now lets go and score a lot of goals. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT GAME!

Great except John O'Shea. Not because he is not good, there are better player to play in his position. He got no business to play there and his right position is at left back, err as a reserve. Sorry.

By the way, I have yet to see the match on telly yet but the performance by the ref was abysmal. He tried his hardest to get them an equaliser.
Ed - "rubbish"? You could have edited the Ronaldo/Beckham comparison with something that rhymed?
(Probably, but it's early and I've not had my coffee yet! - Stand in Ed)

Haha..Nice one, get a mocca down your neck!

The first half was probably the best ive seen us play in over 12 months.
The defence looks transformed already.
In the first 15 mins of the 2nd half i thought we were going to relapse in to the crap football we've been playing, poor passing etc, but we came round, and deserved the win.

There's still a lot of room for improvement though, especially with the passing.
I also think we need to get back to 442, kick O'Shea out of the team, and now start playing our best available eleven each week.