Manchester United Rise To the Challenge as Liverpool Are Destroyed

On Sunday 21 March, many men came of age to control the destiny of their team, and distort the fate of others.

In the Clash of the Titans in Manchester at the Theatre of Dreams (or more commonly known as Old Trafford), cometh the hour, cometh the man as Manchester United emerged colossal victors in an all-important, truly epic encounter.

After Spain's national treasure Fernando Torres thrusted his Liverpool side into an early 0-1 lead, England talisman Wayne Rooney once again came of age with his 33rd goal of the season to draw the scores level, before the magical wizard of the Far East that is Park Ji-Sung struck home the decisive winner.

It was a match in which United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had his English Galácticos execute the desired tactics to perfection.

When in possession of the ball, the 4-3-3 was utilised with masterful precision, as Antonio Valencia and Luis Nani ran forward at every opportunity, providing support for the central midfield players and delivering some deadly crosses into the penalty area.

And when not in possession, Valencia and Nani held the fort as they tracked back to assist the full-backs as United would adopt an almost unbreakable 4-5-1 unit.

In the centre of the field, Michael Carrick expertly kept to his holding midfield role as he contributed to the nullification of Steven Gerrard throughout the encounter, whilst Darren Fletcher pushed further up the field to aid the battles of Wayne Rooney with the Liverpool defenders, and the Scotland hero also gave Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva a considerable amount of problems.

Whilst Fletcher deservedly picked up the man of the match award, there was a slight unsung hero who did not receive the plaudits he deserved.

Park Ji-Sung proved yet again why he's the one true star of the Korea Republic and amongst the best talent Far East Asia has ever produced.

It was literally a case of cometh the hour for Park, as the Korean bravely met a marvellous Fletcher cross on 60 minutes by accurately diving to head the ball home to give United a 2-1 lead, despite receving a subsequent knock in the face by Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson.

Besides his match-winning goal, Park put in a match-winning performance, as he battled hard to win every ball and pressurised his opponents when not on the ball.

When on the ball he delivered pinpoint passes, created some superb passages of play, tackled robustly yet fairly, and made some very intelligent forward runs to create space for himself and others for decent goalscoring opportunities.

As for Liverpool, quite simply a 2-1 scoreline was rather flattering, as Rafael Benitez's defensive formation left too many holes open in midfield and did not allow Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to link up properly and carry the Reds forward as per usual.

Mascherano and Lucas' defensive midfield roles combined with Gerrard's support striker role meant Manchester United had enough space in the centre of the field to dictate play and work goalscoring chances with consummate ease.

By all means Liverpool had their chances to equalise when 2-1 down, but the simple fact remains they did not have enough chances, and Benitez looks sure to adopt different tactics ahead of their next Premier League encounter.

It was a deleterious mistake by Benitez and Liverpool, who now are left floundering in sixth place in the league table, four points behind fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur having played a game more, two points behind fifth placed Manchester City having played two games more than them, and only one point ahead of Aston Villa in seventh, who also have two games in hand.

At the start of the season, Liverpool had Premier League winning aspirations, and were also contenders to win the FA Cup, Carling Cup, and were serious challengers for the UEFA Champions League trophy.

That was in August 2009; now in March 2010, it is a massively different story. No Premier League title will be won, no FA Cup will be won, no Carling Cup either, and no Champions League.

And as for the latter, Liverpool's participation in this most prestigious competition in club sport is severely in doubt.

Liverpool Football Club are not what they used to be; as their Spanish midfielder Albert Riera put it, Liverpool are a sinking ship.

In stark contrast to the red half of Merseyside, the red half of Manchester is a wonderful place to be at the minute.

Emerging 2-1 victors over their bitter rivals has left Manchester United two points clear in the title race, as later on Sunday challengers Chelsea almost killed themselves after drawing 1-1 against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, thus dropping two colossal points in the process.

With a Champions League quarter-final to come and a fairly easy route to the final awaiting United, their newly acquired advantage in the Premier League title hunt has put the Old Trafford faithful into a state of delirium.

The Red Devils now have the momentum, as their quest for glory is seriously picking up pace.

Manchester United have learnt from their acrimonious defeat at home in the FA Cup to League One minnows Leeds United, and are now becoming an almost unstoppable juggernaut, spearheaded by England's potential World Cup superstar, Wayne Rooney.

There was a stage when many predicted Chelsea to comfortably waltz their way to first Premier League title in four years, but at the moment that scenario does not appear to be on the cards.

Right now, near the end of March 2010, it seems Manchester United are the team who have most successfully avoided succumbing to the costly idiosyncrasies of the 2009/10 Premier League season.

Next up for United is Chelsea at Old Trafford, and if United can produce the same performance, then they'll get the same result.

And the same result could well mean the same outcome at the end of the season, yet another Premier League title.