'Happy Birthday to You' rings out from the Kop as King Kenny enters his Sixties to a Mersey beat

Published on Sunday 6 March 2011 20:10

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday King Kenny, happy birthday to you."

The Kop has always been handy with a tune, and the song they belted out ten minutes from the end of a quite staggering victory over Manchester United was first-rate, acknowledging last week's 60th birthday of an icon, the man they trust to get them back on the perch Sir Alex Ferguson has so brutally knocked them off over the past 20 years.

The Liverpool manager acknowledged later that the match had been an enjoyable experience, but he admits his side have some way still to go before they can consistently challenge Manchester United for the Barclays Premier League title once again.

The Reds' 3-1 win over their arch-rivals at Anfield dealt a blow to the Old Trafford club's bid for a record-breaking 19th championship, a figure which would take them past the Merseysiders' tally.

But despite the relative ease of victory for the hosts the match was a typically fiery encounter and was not without its flashpoints.

Jamie Carragher was lucky to escape severe punishment for an over-the-top challenge on Nani which resulted in the Portugal internationalist leaving the field on a stretcher with a gash several inches long on his right shin.

Senior United officials were raging at the decision of referee Phil Dowd to only book the former England star, even if Sir Alex Ferguson's opinions remain unknown after he skipped his post-match media duties.

After the game Carragher sent an apology to Nani in the United dressing-room and waited for the winger to personally say sorry for causing the injury.

The visitors were not just sinned against, however, with Rafael also escaping with a caution for a lunge on Lucas Leiva moments after Carragher's tackle.

Dalglish played down the incidents, insisting Dowd had an easy game to officiate. "I thought both sets of players were fantastic and made it an enjoyable spectacle for everyone," he said.

And despite the win the Liverpool manager accepts there is plenty of work still to do. "The closer you get to the top the more difficult it is to close the gap," he said. "Moving from 20th to sixth is not as big a problem as moving from two to one so the higher you go the more difficult the step up is. United are a great benchmark but our season is not finished. We got our reward for the victory in three points in the league but we just want to keep going and get as many as we possibly can.

"The owners (Americans Fenway Sports Group] are determined to move the club forward within reason, whatever that is going to be they will do their best to provide it. But the players who played there did not do themselves any harm in terms of being part of the club going forward."Dirk Kuyt scored his first Liverpool hat-trick - and the first Reds treble against United for more than 20 - years before Javier Hernandez headed in an injury-time consolation.

And a bad day for United may get even worse. Ferguson cancelled his pre-match briefing on Friday in protest at the coverage given to his post-match quotes at Chelsea on Tuesday that have landed him with an improper conduct charge, plus the furore that surrounded Wayne Rooney's elbowing of Wigan's James McCarthy the previous weekend.

Ferguson did not speak to host broadcaster Sky Sports, either before or after his side's third Premier League defeat of the season.

His assistant, Mike Phelan, did not carry out his usual post-match engagements with the BBC, arranged due to Ferguson's long-standing feud with the organisation. Radio rights holders talkSPORT were also left without any comment from the visitors.

For the first time, even United's own television channel, MUTV, left a senior game without any reaction, which is an embarrassing situation in itself.

The only comments came via a club spokesman, who confirmed Nani will be assessed today before the extent is known, and Rio Ferdinand, who was not even at Anfield, but offered an opinion via Twitter. "Bad result today no excuses," stated the England skipper.

Kuyt's goals won the match but the contributions of January signing Luis Suarez and midfielders Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva could not be overestimated. "The way the players went about their job, their attitude, their desire to get a result and the pride they took in the club and themselves is why they got the result," added Dalglish, who celebrated his 60th birthday on Friday.

"Everyone gave everything they had to beat Manchester United and they played so well. They were all outstanding in different ways. Dirk got three goals and will get the headlines and Luis played fantastically well but the rest of them weren't too far behind.

"Without the contribution of the rest the boys would not have had as an enjoyable afternoon. We know it is a good victory and very important for us."