Steven Gerrard scored on his return to Liverpool's first XI but Manchester United did not admit surrender in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Controversial free-kick cancelled out by Hernandez equaliser
Steven Gerrard scored on his return to Liverpool's first XI but Manchester United did not admit surrender in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Kenny Dalglish restored his captain to the starting line-up for the first time in seven months and he was rewarded with a 68th minute opener from a free-kick in front of the Kop.
United, who started with Wayne Rooney as a substitute, were furious Charlie Adam had made the most of a challenge from Rio Ferdinand to win the set-piece.
But Sir Alex Ferguson's unbeaten team avoided a fourth successive defeat on the red half of Merseyside, as Javier Hernandez poached an equaliser with nine minutes left to play.
It may not have lived up to Ferguson's billing as the greatest match-up in English football but the draw was typically not without incident.
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 Fenway Sports Group.
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.
Torrid
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 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 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.
Blaze
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 for his header from Stewart Downing's cross to drop onto the roof of the net.
| Liverpool |
Team Statistics |
Manchester United |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 8 |
Corners |
3 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 78.6 |
Passing Success |
72.7 |
| 27 |
Tackles |
24 |
| 63 |
Tackles Success |
83.3 |
| 55.9 |
Possession |
44.1 |
| 48.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.3 |
| 421 |
Total Passes |
341 |
|
