Liverpool Reds End Slide with Win Over Manchester United

(Torres sits alone atop the Premier League's goalscorers chart.)

It was all coming down around them, wasn't it?

Four successive defeats in all competitions—five would have been the worst such string in 50 years.

In the recent past, Manchester United would have been the wrong type of opponent for Liverpool at moments like these. Confidence was reeling and Steven Gerrard was sitting in the stands among great former players, and all the Reds had to do was beat England's reining champions—and their arch rivals.

In the past, Rafa Benitez's men used to shrivel in this fixture, rarely destroyed but never destroyers.

Last year, they finally did the double against United and Chelsea, but a 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge this year began the slide that brought Liverpool to this precarious position. One more defeat, and surely any lingering title hopes would have drowned in a sea of demands for Benitez's job.

But there has been a shift in confidence at Anfield, and Sunday's win proved it.

Liverpool wasn't so obviously better than United, but the Reds were certainly deserved winners. The maligned Lucas and the combative Javier Mascherano dominated play in midfield in Gerrard's absence, and the Liverpool defense was stellar.

And in the end, the difference was the man who must be the unquestioned best at his position in the Premiership. Fernando Torres was quiet for so much of the match, but his greatest chance was his best, and Edwin Van Der Sar never could have saved it.

Liverpool was supposed to be the team with the defensive frailties, and yet, United's diminished pace at the back was exposed in the form of Rio Ferdinand, much to the benefit of Torres. When David N'gog's last-second shot slid off Van Der Sar's fingers and into the net, the most-deserving team had won.

The climb remains long if Liverpool wishes to insert itself back into the title race. But with a third-consecutive victory over rivals United, there is certainly no better place to start.