For the next week at least, Rafa Benitez is back on his throne as the king of set-piece matches because lets be honest, if you give the Spaniard a 'must-win' match, nine times out of ten he'll come out of it smelling of roses.
Forget that weekly grinding out for results for that elusive league title, just give him the spectacle and at Anfield that's exactly what we got.
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Liverpool were magnificent against a strangely subdued Manchester United and deservedly ran out comfortable two-nil winners, while reinvigorating their title dreams. From top to bottom this was a team that needed and wanted it more from the first to the final whistle.
In the process, Benitez and a number of his players took the critics' bile and rammed it down their throats. Questions were answered emphatically.
Reds captain of the day, Jamie Carragher turned in a man-of-the-match performance. 'Mr. Liverpool,' who by his own standards has been poor this campaign, was power and aggression personified.
Fearsome in the tackle, dominating in the air, it makes me wish he'd call up England manager Fabio Capello and say that he'd love to be considered for England selection again. Sure he could've gone for mugging his old teammate Michael Owen, but on this particular day it wasn't cynical enough to convince referee Andre Marriner that an early bath was called for.
Yossi Benayoun turned in yet another performance of craft and flair, surely convincing his boss that he deserves to start and remain on the park for every minute of every single game. His eye for the killer pass was never better exemplified than for the opener.
The key to the match though was the work of the defensive shield of Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva. They completely dominated their opponents while starting the attack at every opportunity. Lucas was particularly impressive, considering the amount of stick he has been receiving recently.
The only blot on the copybook would be Mascherano's suicidal challenge on Edwin van der Sar. Why the Argentine felt compelled to scythe the Dutchman down, only he knows. His loss will be sorely missed, as I felt that he was finally shaking off the Maradona induced World Cup Qualifying hangover.
