Jerzy Dudek's Sunday evening will have been a very long and lonely one following the mistake, which will no doubt haunt him for the rest of his career. The Polish number one's blunder, which saw Diego Forlan score a crucial opener, means the initiative has been firmly surrendered to our seemingly defunct rivals in the chase to dethrone Arsenal.
It has been a tough few weeks for the former Feyenoord stopper, but in gifting Manchester United a vital victory at Anfield, Dudek has surely hit rock bottom.
Singling individual players out for criticism is usually a job left to Gerard Houllier, but there is no avoiding the fact that this error has cost the Reds at least two points as their retched run of form continues.
The record breaking run against our neighbours had to end at some point but for it to be discontinued in such a frustrating and ultimately depressing fashion will be a bitter pill to swallow for Reds who had begun to take victory for granted in this fixture.
It's difficult to argue against the view that the home side were comprehensively outthought today, and Alex Ferguson's side can take a great deal of pride in the fact that they came to Anfield, without some of their most expensive stars and beat Liverpool at their own game.
Some will call their tactics negative, some Liverpudlians may even have the gall to do so, but the truth is that they defended magnificently and broke with purpose, without ever dominating the game. They remained composed in the face of consistent but unthreatening pressure and even though the points could have gone either way, it is difficult to begrudge them a victory.
Seasoned observers may remember Liverpool doing the very same thing five successive times over the last two years. Their gameplan was something you may have expected of Houllier pre-illness. It was faultless. Earlier in the week Ferguson explained that he would he changing his tactics against Liverpool this time around and it seems that they worked a treat.
The reds struggled to regain an attacking, positive mindset, following three weeks of abject negativity enforced by Houllier. The midfield duo of Gerrard and Murphy - who were both excellent during the first period – were the driving force in an attempt the reverse the regressive tactics. And a pretty good job they did too.
Gerrard looked re-born on the right side of midfield at times, weaving inside and out and rediscovering the crossing form we have come to expect from him. Murphy was also at his effective best on the other flank, barely putting a foot wrong.
The real spark for home side came from Milan Baros who was preferred in attack to the forlorn Emile Heskey. Baros' rasping drive after just two minutes proved to be the finest effort of the half for the home side.
Liverpool also welcomed back Stephane Henchoz with Djimi Traore reverting to left-back and Jamie Carragher to the right. It was a strangely off-form Sami Hyypia who came close to gifting United an opener on 22 minutes, losing out to Van Goalhanging-horsefacedtwat in dramatically uncharacteristic fashion, leaving Carragher to come across and avert the danger.
United's other less than aesthetically pleasing forward Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had the ball in the net early in the first period but his effort was rightly adjudged to be offside.
Following an extremely tight first-half it looked likely than the Reds would ultimately prove too strong for United. The substitution of Milan Baros just 12 minutes into the second-half was a crushing blow to these hopes. Heskey was brought on and we barely registered an attacking threat until the game was beyond us.
Seven minutes after Baros' shocking substitution, United were in front in the strangest of circumstances. Jamie Carragher's back-header seemed easy for Dudek, but the ball somehow escaped his grasp, rolled through his legs and fell to Forlan who gleefully tucked the ball away. Quite surreal. Dudek lay on his back in disbelief and one has to feel desperately sorry for him.
Two minutes later and the points were wrapped up as Forlan blasted past Dudek, beating the goalkeeper at his near post. It proved to be a killer blow. Diouf soon arrived on the scene for the woeful Smicer, who given the chance to operate in his preferred role in such a big fixture was a massive disappointment. This was really his chance to extinguish the flames of criticism, but instead he has invited them like a gallon of petrol.
United's defence held firm as the Reds looked to have run out of ideas. For once Gary Neville was up to the task and was without question the Mancs' best performer on the day. A last ditch challenge when Owen seemed certain to turn in Heskey's pullback was crucial. Mickael Silvestre was also excellent at centre-half.
Despite scoring what proved to be a consolation goal for the home side, this was Sami Hyypia's worst display in four seasons at Anfield. The skipper is a shadow of his former self at present. This is our problem….too many top players off form at one time and very little confidence running through the team.
With United sealing a deserved victory they have earned the bragging right for a few months. As the unnecessary mosaic said: "This is Anfield" But at the moment, that means nothing. And what kind of message does having a mosaic against them EVERY season give out? In my opinion it adds weight to their 'Cup Final' taunts.
However it should be acknowledged that Manchester United are not a team we should be concerning ourselves with. Such are their Chelsea-esque inconsistencies, that they will not be in the reckoning come May. We, on the other hand have some serious soul searching if we are to be in contention. This is no time to be opening fire on individuals, we must stand as one if "twelve long years" are not to become thirteen.
Team: Jerzy Dudek, Jamie Carragher, Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore (John Arne Riise); Dietmar Hamann, Steven Gerarrd, Danny Murphy, Vladimir Smicer (El Hadji Diouf); Michael Owen, Milan Baros (Emile Heskey):
