I was right.
"I'm sure we'll be on the receiving end of a terrible refereeing decision later in the season (most probably on Sunday when self confessed Manc Howard Webb takes charge at the theatre of screams.)"
This is what I said in my last article only three days ago.
And I was proven 100% correct as a terrible refereeing decision by Howard Webb cost us dearly. With 70 minutes gone John O’Shea hauled down Fernando Torres on the edge of the box after Raul Meireles had played the Spanish striker in on goal.
The Irishman only received a yellow card, when he should have been sent off because he'd clearly denied Torres a goalscoring opportunity. Although Gerrard went on to level the scores from the resulting free kick, the fact that the home side still possessed a full compliment of players left the game in the balance.
Had O'Shea seen red not only would we have had a numerical advantage over our rivals, we would also have claimed all of the momentum thanks to recovering from a two-goal deficit so dramatically.
United would have had little to no chance of staging their own spectacular comeback.
Do not get me wrong, we certainly didn't deserve a single point from this match, let alone all three, it's just frustrating when a refereeing decision denies us points.
Even though Roy Hodgson's team selection suggested a more attacking approach (Meireles, Cole and Torres all started) it was the home side who started the better, dominating the first half and restricting the visitors to a single strike on goal.
The first real chance came after four minutes as Nani's long-range strike was deflected high over the bar for the game's first corner. Ryan Giggs floated the ball towards Vidic, who headed well over.
United continued to dominate possession and stretch the Reds defence until the best opportunity of the first half fell to Nani. The Portugese midfielder was free in the box, and had only the keeper to beat, however he failed to complete the simple task of slotting home from close range and dragged his shot well wide.
Five minutes later Paul Scholes blasted a first time shot over the bar from 25 yards out before Liverpool finally fashioned their first chance of the game after more than half of the first period had been played.
A short corner went to the advancing Glen Johnson. The England right back cut inside and fired a left-footed effort just past the far post. It was a good attempt, however it was the only real chance we created throughout the entire first 45 minutes.
We had managed to ride the storm of United attacks and retain the ball for spells of play, however once again we lacked the attacking potency needed to penetrate stubborn defences.
We passed the ball square too many times even though the unfairly criticised Lucas Leiva was left on the bench, and Torres barely got a touch as the midfield appeared unwilling to get the ball to his feet quickly, preferring instead to pointlessly pass the ball across the back and middle whilst failing to pose any sort of attacking threat.
The Mancs pressure and control eventually came to fruition three minutes before the break as Berbatov easily beat Torres in the air to reach Ryan Giggs' corner and head past both Pepe Reina and Paul Konchesky.
Frustratingly the former Fulham player failed to patrol the post properly. If he had then the Bulgarian's header would have hit him and the team's would have gone in on level terms at the break.
Instead, the ball sneaked into the corner and Liverpool were left with the daunting prospect of reversing a one-goal deficit at Old Trafford.
The beginning of the second half continued in the same pattern as the first 45 minutes had done, with Manchester United controlling and creating chances whilst Liverpool struggled to dent their impenetrable backline.
After 48 minutes Wayne Rooney found Nani who cut inside onto his left foot before his shot was blocked by Martin Skrtel, who, for reasons unknown to me, was selected ahead of Daniel Agger in the centre of defence.
Soon after Fletcher's deflected drive went dangerously into the air. Pepe Reina did well to gather at the feet of Dimitar Berbatov, who was the only United player to respond and attempt to get to the loose ball.
The home side were searching for a second to confirm their dominance, and it very nearly arrived when Nani's stunning strike smashed against the woodwork with Reina well and truly beaten.
It was a wonderful effort from Nani, however the 23-year old ruined his game with some pathetic play-acting and unacceptable time wasting.
Only three minutes later United managed to double their lead, as some loose defending from Konchesky, who was disappointing yesterday, allowed Nani to cross into the danger area.
His cross evaded Rooney, however it fell perfectly for Berbatov. The Bulgarian used his thigh to expertly control the ball before brilliantly directing his overhead kick past the helpless Reina and into the top corner.
Whilst as a Liverpool supporter I was gutted to concede that goal, as a fan of fantastic football I could only watch in amazement. It was simply a sensational goal, and a reward for his side's performance.
That goal sparked an immediate response from Liverpool, who, up to that point, hadn't forced Van der Sar to make a single save. Minutes past the hour mark Evans sliced Torres down in the box after Cole had found the Spaniard with a good pass.
There was no argument that it was a penalty. It was a stonewaller, which Gerrard confidently converted to bring us right back into the tie.
Seven minutes later the remarkable turn-around had been completed, as Gerrard cleverly slotted home a low and well-worked free kick into the back of the net before celebrating with his trademark kiss of the Sky camera.
It was a fantastic goal to complete a wonderful comeback and Liverpool fans were finally enjoying the afternoon's action. With 13 minutes left Ngog, who provided crucial support for Torres following his introduction on the hour mark, blazed high and wide from 30 yards out.
The match was finely balanced as the game opened up and both sides started playing some really good football. However, unfortunately with only six minutes left United re-claimed the lead as Berbatov beat Carra in the air before heading into the top corner to complete his hattrick and leave Liverpool defeated and demoralised.
It was the worst way to lose. At 2-0 down I was starting to get used to the idea of defeat, however my hopes were raised when Gerrard responded with an excellent double. To eventually lose out to a third goal from Berbatov was gutting, and hard to take.
While five points from five matches is certainly not good enough, we should retain a healthy sense of perspective. We've already played Arsenal at home and both Manchester clubs away. We've also had to travel to St Andrews, which is never an easy place to go to even when we're playing well.
This, alongside the off-field fiasco(s), must be taken into account when assessing our performance so far this campaign.
Liverpool must now respond positively by taking maximum points from the next two matches, at home to Sunderland then Blackpool. Before then we have a Carling Cup match against Northampton at Anfield to contend with, and sandwiched in between those Premier League contests is a trip to the Netherlands to face Utrecht in the Europa League.
Anything less than six League points, a place in the 4th round of the Carling Cup and at least a point in Europe would be disappointing.
However, whatever happens on the field, off-field issues are far more important at the moment, and should not be forgotten regardless of any successes or failures that the team may have over the coming weeks.
YNWA
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