Rio: Victory is Sweet

RIO Ferdinand has claimed victory at Anfield for Manchester United tasted especially sweet this season because Liverpool have started to fancy their title chances once more.

"As a Manchester United player, there are not many tastes better than winning at Anfield, especially as Liverpool feel as though they are going very well and had a really good chance to beat us," said England defender Ferdinand.

"They thought they had the players to win this time.

"We have nicked a few results against them over the years but this time I thought we were well worth it. They hardly caused us any problems at all."

The 29-year-old former Leeds star, who hobbled out of Anfield after having stitches inserted into a nasty gash on his ankle, was reluctant to take too much praise along with his man-of-the-match champagne, insisting it had been a team effort.

"I do have a fantastic partnership with Nemanja but results like these are not about one or two players," he said. "If the other lads around us aren't defending or running their socks off, it makes our job at the back a lot harder. There were big performances all over the park from a lot of different players."