"Obviously the two goals coming as quickly as they did made it really difficult for us to try and get anything from the game, but to the boys credit they got back into it and got a goal when Luis [Suarez] got on the end of a free-kick.
"[David] De Gea made a good save right at the end but overall I think you would say they were the better side, but you'd expect them to be at home, and the two goals in five minutes gave us a mountain to climb."
Wayne Rooney scored a quick double at the beginning of the second half. His goals in the 47th and 50th minute gave United an advantage that Liverpool would always find difficult to overturn at Old Trafford. The goals were his 20th and 21st of the current league campaign.
They gave hard evidence to the possession and territorial advantage United was gaining toward the end of the first half. Liverpool started out brightly, but never seemed to be able build on it. Rooney swept away any optimism LFC supporters may have had over the scoreless first half.
Suarez's 81st minute goal, which few would have predicted at that point, cut United's lead in half. But Liverpool's fightback would be short-lived.
The Reds top-four hopes were dealt a blow by the loss, but Carling and FA Cup games in the coming weeks can go a long way toward restoring last week's teeming optimism.
Review all the action from Saturday's game in our Liverpool Live Blog.
Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O'Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
