Moyes reverts to Hernandez and discovers powerful ally in his striker

IT is rare indeed for victory in a League Cup third round to herald celebrations quite like those seen at the Old Trafford overnight.

Manchester United's Javier Hernandez celebrates after scoring the game's only goal

IT is rare indeed for victory in a League Cup third round to herald celebrations quite like those seen at the Old Trafford overnight.

The identity of Manchester United's victims was one reason for that but so, too, it seemed, was the sense of relief that accompanied a victory for David Moyes's new regime after the shuddering defeat at the Etihad Stadium three days earlier.

In terms of performance, this was not quite the reaction that Moyes will have hoped for from United after their 4-1 defeat by Manchester City, with Liverpool dictating the game for long periods and creating more chances. In the circumstances, though, Moyes will not care a jot.

His team survived a difficult first half and, after scoring in the opening minutes of the second period through Javier Hernandez, held firm in the face of another minor onslaught in the closing stages.

The League Cup is nobody's top priority, but you only had to see the disappointment etched on the faces of Liverpool's players, with nothing to show for what was at times a strong performance, to see what it meant to them.

The return of Luis Suarez, after a ten-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender, brought invention and devilment to their forward line but, at the end, Brendan Rodgers was left to curse his team's misfortune or lack of composure in front of goal and the loss of concentration that allowed Hernandez to score from Wayne Rooney's corner kick.

Suarez had been the focus of the United supporters' attention at the start of the evening, a legacy of his infamous spat with Patrice Evra two seasons ago, but long before the end the home crowd had become preoccupied with trying to cajole a somewhat disjointed team over the line.

Before long, Suarez became just another white-shirted threat in the eyes of the United supporters. He was darting short, checking back, running long and snapping at the heels of the opposition, but his menace was matched, in different ways, by Daniel Sturridge and, in particular, by Victor Moses, whose aggressive, direct running have already made him an important addition to this Liverpool team.

United had the better of the first ten minutes, with Hernandez, Rooney and Nani all having shots blocked after good approach work. Shinji Kagawa cut inside and had a right-foot shot saved by Simon Mignolet in the ninth minute and, at that stage, it seemed as if Moyes was getting the response that he was looking for after his team's mauling in the Manchester derby on Sunday.

Suarez barely touched the ball for the first ten minutes of the game, but then Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva took control in central midfield and Liverpool proceeded to build attacking momentum. Jose Enrique, who was barely needed in a defensive capacity, was getting plenty of joy on the left-hand side, while the rotation between Suarez and Moses meant that United's back four could rarely settle.

On 18 minutes, Suarez had a shot blocked by Jonny Evans. A minute later, Gerrard's crossfield pass allowed Enrique and Suarez to combine to set up Moses, only for Ryan Giggs to make an important tackle. Then a Sturridge shot went wide after the United defence was stretched again, followed by an Enrique cross, a mistimed jump from Evans and an important save by David De Gea at the feet of Suarez. All this was in the space of five minutes as Liverpool turned the screw.

Sturridge felt that Liverpool should have had a penalty when his cross-shot struck Smalling on the arm in the 26th minute. It seemed only a matter of time before the away team took the lead, but their threat faded as the game entered a sloppy period late in the first half, with Giggs and Lucas both booked for clumsy challenges.

The away supporters roared their approval of their team's efforts as the half-time whistle was blown, but Rodgers must have been concerned by his players' failure to make their pressure count during that period of dominance. It seemed unlikely that they would be allowed to dictate the game quite as easily in the second half.

Sure enough, United opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the second half. Moyes had not even reached the dugout when his team won a corner kick on the left-hand side. Hernandez took his position in the six-yard box, next to Enrique, and proceeded to run in and out of the full back's blind spot so often that he ended up getting a free run on him when the ball was finally whipped over by Rooney.

The ball was missed by Gerrard, left by Enrique and attacked by Hernandez, who cleverly knocked it beyond Mignolet.

It was a different game now. United had the lead and, at least to some extent, had their tails up. It was not exactly free-flowing stuff, but there was more control to their play. Kagawa served a reminder of his ability with a purposeful run and a fierce shot that hit the top of the crossbar.

Liverpool seemed to be running out of ideas, but they were reinvigorated after Rodgers switched to a three-man back line, pushing Martin Kelly and Enrique higher up the pitch, and moved Jordan Henderson into a central position.

From a cross by Enrique, Moses forced De Gea into a fine save before Suarez struck the crossbar with a deflected free kick.

United threatened again through Rooney, forcing an awkward save from Mignolet, but it was backs to the wall as Liverpool staged one final push. Henderson, whether intentionally or not, sent De Gea to his right, while Kolo Toure, by now pushed up into midfield, side-footed a Suarez cross towards Sturridge, who could not divert it goalwards.

It was desperate stuff from United at times, with every hacked clearance met with a loud roar, but there seemed to be an acceptance last night (Wednesday) that the end more than justified the means.

The Times