The Guardian
When the country starts to run short of conversation it may have to think of something other than the contest for the Premiership. After this stoppage-time victory who can talk of the exacting fixture list ahead of Manchester United? If they are yet to go to Chelsea, Chelsea themselves must visit Arsenal. The sole advantage worth discussing is United's lead.
With a game in hand at Manchester City, the champions have it in their power only to cut it to six. United have gone wildly off course just once, in that mystifying defeat at West Ham, and this messy yet stubborn success at Anfield looked like a pledge never again to be so addled as they were on that December afternoon.
Sir Alex Ferguson said on Saturday that his players had been lucky against Liverpool and, a week before, Fulham. Graciousness comes readily to those who top the table but it was also calculated to deepen the anguish of Jose Mourinho by confirming that the Portuguese is dead right to think everything goes United's way at present. Perhaps, too, Ferguson, with no cause to be argumentative, had refrained from telling the whole truth.
Dominant as Liverpool were, especially in the second half, they did not concoct sufficient mayhem in the visitors' goalmouth. The pair of strikers, who actually gave good displays, seldom got into the heart of the penalty area. Dirk Kuyt typically drops deep and Craig Bellamy illustrated again why Graeme Souness saw him as a quasi-winger at Newcastle United.
However agitated they were, United always had an answer. With Nemanja Vidic in the same dire form he showed at the FA Cup replay with Reading, others had to cover for the Serb. His centre-back partner, Rio Ferdinand, got through the work of two men. The readiness to muck in will have to be displayed again while Paul Scholes is suspended.
Angry that Xabi Alonso was tugging him, the midfielder whirled round in the 85th minute and took a swing of such extravagance that the Spaniard cannot even have felt the breeze of this aimless haymaker. Scholes could try to argue that it was a mere gesture of annoyance but the referee, Martin Atkinson, naturally classed it as the type of violent conduct for which the United player, more renowned for a history of mistimed tackles, has no aptitude whatsoever.
With that exception, the visitors showed a great deal of professionalism and that quality was significant at the goal. Having been awarded a disputed foul towards the left, United did everything conceivable to capitalise and it would be glib to refer solely to a goalkeeping error. Cristiano Ronaldo made the free-kick dip sharply towards the feet of Pepe Reina and at the last second the substitute Louis Saha made a run across the face of the Spaniard to distract him from making a clean catch. Another substitute, John O'Shea, fired home in front of the Kop.
The celebrations then, and at the full-time whistle, were impassioned and no one attempted to pretend that this was just another three points. United's struggle with Chelsea does not prevent them from maintaining the more historic rivalries and Rafael Benítez, in his third season at Anfield, is still to register a Premiership win over United.
In some senses United have gone slightly awry. It has been a long while since they gave an outstanding display, Scholes is now banned and Henrik Larsson, to the consternation of an uncomprehending football world, looks intent on keeping his word and returning to Helsingborgs next week. Even so, United could remain short of their best and still have the means to regain the title.
The Times
As moments fade into memories, as memories fade to sepia, it is days such as these that will last for ever in the minds of Manchester United's title-winning class of 2007. John O'Shea sweeping in an improbable stoppage-time winner in front of the Kop, Cristiano Ronaldo flashing another of those conspiratorial winks, Gary Neville sprinting the length of Anfield in fist-pumping celebration while Sir Alex Ferguson, incredulous, dances a grandfather's jig on the touchline.
For a club who have frequently been engulfed in darkness since their last Premiership title triumph in 2003, this was a glorious afternoon on which nothing could dampen spirits. Not Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Fratton Park later in the day, not the red card shown to Paul Scholes for a haymaker aimed at Xabi Alonso with five minutes remaining, not even the knee injury that forced Wayne Rooney to leave the fray earlier. "So, so sweet," the England forward said afterwards, flashing a toothy grin as he hobbled towards the bus that would take the United squad back down the M62.
Rooney may have to sit out the second leg of the Champions League tie against Lille on Wednesday, but Ferguson feels that the impact of O'Shea's goal will give United "renewed energy" for the challenges ahead. It was one of those moments of which title triumphs are made, a goal that had scarcely seemed plausible as his team clung on against Liverpool. As at Fulham seven days earlier, United had been on the ropes, but, against the odds, they have battled through both matches to claim six points when there could very feasibly have been none.
United have more verve than Chelsea, more spirit than Arsenal and, while it did not always appear so on Saturday, more class than Liverpool. Kuyt has won plenty of plaudits for his wholeheartedness since arriving from Feyenoord in August, but he epitomises a team who remain more perspiration than inspiration and whose attacking play is less about incisive football and more about bludgeoning the opposition. That is not a criticism of Rafael BenÍtez, the manager, but he will recognise that his assessment of Saturday — "we controlled the game, we create chances, we don't score" — was frustratingly familiar.
Edwin van der Sar seemed to have secured United a treasured point when he denied Peter Crouch with two minutes remaining, but, as at Fulham the previous week, his heroics at one end were followed by a late sucker-punch at the other. Two minutes into stoppage time, after a tug by Steve Finnan on Ryan Giggs, Ronaldo whipped in a fierce free kick that José Manuel Reina could not hold, leaving O'Shea, the unlikely hero, to side-foot the ball into the roof of the net. Cue the Ferguson reel.
O'Shea's career has stalled since his role in United's last title triumph, but his cameos — as an emergency goalkeeper away to Tottenham Hotspur last month and now as goalscorer — have secured his place in the picture-books that accompany his team's impending triumph. "It must be soul-destroying for Chelsea to be watching this," he said with a smile. And that, of course, makes it even sweeter.
The Telegraph
Scene one. A golf course in Cheshire. A father and his son are about to play when a stranger comes up and tells the older man that Aston Villa have lost to Oldham and Manchester United are champions. Alex Ferguson walks down the fairway "feeling like Arnold Palmer at Troon".
Scene two. The press room at Old Trafford. Arsenal have lost 6-1. In the away dressing-room, Igor Stepanovs, humiliated by Dwight Yorke, is in tears. Ferguson is asked about whether Arsene Wenger has any hopes left of the title. "No," he replies. "That's them finished."
Scene three. The touchline at Anfield. The victory has been ludicrously improbable; reduced to 10 men, completely outplayed, the game turned on its head by, of all people, John O'Shea. Ferguson leaps into the arms of his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, with both feet off the ground. He used to do this to Brian Kidd but that was 10 years ago. The white shirts flung into the crowd appear deeply symbolic.
Three moments from Ferguson's time at Old Trafford when titles were won - or in this case probably won. This victory could not be anything but a tipping point. "A win here would just about guarantee Manchester United the title," Steven Gerrard had said before the game, although understandably the Liverpool captain was in no mood to discuss that theory after the match.
Should they beat Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-final, United's journey to Stamford Bridge, upon which Jose Mourinho must now rest all his hopes, will be pushed back to the end of the season when it might be too late. The question is whether Mourinho will order his players to line up in a guard of honour for Manchester United as Ferguson did for him two years ago?
For Liverpool, the story is familiar. Under Rafael Benitez, they have gone places where United have not been for years; beaten Juventus, AC Milan and Barcelona, and now this morning they find themselves again 19 points behind the Premiership leaders. When asked what Liverpool required, Carragher replied bluntly: "Better players all over the pitch," adding the wry rider. "Except at centre-half."
