VIEW FROM THE PRESSBOX – INDEPENDENT

‘Any team would miss the presence of the brooding Finn, and Liverpool certainly did, but that did not fully explain the way they seemed to accept their fate. To play 90 minutes without a single shot on goal is a miserable return, even for 10 men.

"It hurts," was Gérard Houllier's reaction although the Liverpool manager's response to going down to Ruud van Nistelrooy's penalty hardly sent a message of defiance reverberating round the Theatre of Dreams. To remove a striker for a central defender when you are 1-0 down looked to be the thinking of a man looking to avoid a serious hiding. A mental white flag was waved.

When Emile Heskey has the best striker in England alongside him, his contribution is often questionable. Without Michael Owen, who had a back injury and played no part, and with Milan Baros withdrawn to accommodate Igor Biscan plugging the hole left by Hyypia, he had a thankless task.

For the tactic to work Heskey had to hold the ball up to allow his colleagues to join him from midfield. With his heavy touch, and with the numerical odds stacked against him, he had as much chance of being successful as a dray horse has in the Grand National. Eventually Liverpool succumbed to fatigue as much as United's performance.’