Mark Gonzalez Injured during Liverpool-Man.Utd Derby

Chilean footballer replaced against traditional rivals.

During a recent interview Mark Gonzalez had stated that "his dream would be coming true as" he would play for Liverpool against Manchester United on October 22 at Old Trafford. Gonzalez (no relation to Fernando Gonzalez, the tennis player) became the first Chilean to play in such an important match that faces the two English teams that have won most titles. Liverpool has won 18 English League Titles and 5 UEFA Champions titles while Manchester United has won 15 English Championships and 2 European Titles. There was a sellout crowd of 76,000 fans at Manchester United ´s home ground and the match got off to a fast and furious pace. The initial play was very balanced since both teams applied man to man marking and so there were few open spaces on the pitch. Gonzalez created the first scoring chance for Liverpool as he ran clear on the left wing but a defender blocked his cross. Manchester United replied with a good hard shot by Louis Saha in the 23rd minute. Gonzalez was the only effective attacker for Liverpool as he made another good cross from the left to Dirk Kuyt in the 27th minute, but the Dutch international player could not head the ball into the net. A few minutes later during another good run. Mark Gonzalez was injured in his left foot as he clashed with a United defender. Then tragedy struck for the visitors as Ryan Giggs made a fast break on the left and crossed to Paul Scholes whose shot ended in the Liverpool net. Gonzalez could not recover from his injury since he was replaced in the 51st minute by Jermaine Pennant. Gonzalez absence caused the Liverpool attack to disappear from a match whose fate was sealed in the 65th minute a defender Rio Ferdinand scored a marvelous goal as he trapped a ball in the area , eluded John Riise and sent a left footed shot into the Liverpool net. Now all experts agree that Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool coach is in danger of losing his job since his team is only in the 11th place of the points table. In another "Derby" match played in London today, Tottenham Hotspur defeated West Ham United by 1-0.

Starting Lineups :

Manchester United (2) : Erwin Van der Sar (gk), Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra,Louis Saha, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Fletcher.

Liverpool (0) : Pepe Reina (gk), Sami Hyypia,Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Steve Finnan, Mohammed Sissoko, Luis Garcia, Steven Gerrard, John Riise, Dirk Kuyt, Mark Gonzalez,