The year is 2000, Eminem's 'Stan' is top of the UK charts - after beating Bob the Builder's 'Can We Fix It?' to number one - and it is just 34p for a pint of milk. On this day 25 years ago, a young Danny Murphy delivered an iconic free-kick at Old Trafford that ended 10 years of hurt against the Reds' biggest rivals, Manchester United. It was described as "a peach of a free-kick," and "tremendous" by commentators, as Murphy's strike hit the back of the net in front of a stunned Stretford End.
The year is 2000, Eminem's 'Stan' is top of the UK charts - after beating Bob the Builder's 'Can We Fix It?' to number one - and it is just 34p for a pint of milk.
But all of that was pretty irrelevant to Liverpool fans, to whom Christmas had just come early.
On this day 25 years ago, a young Danny Murphy delivered an iconic free-kick at Old Trafford that ended 10 years of hurt against the Reds' biggest rivals, Manchester United.
It was described as "a peach of a free-kick," and "tremendous" by commentators, as Murphy's strike hit the back of the net in front of a stunned Stretford End.
That moment of perfection was enough to seal three points and put Murphy on the fans' favourite list forever.
"I had been a Liverpool player for more than three years when I scored my first winner for them against Manchester United in 2000," said Murphy to BBC Sport. "I was used to being asked for autographs and people talking to me, but that goal against our biggest rivals suddenly elevated everything to a different level."
The Reds had not won at Old Trafford since 1990 and had not beaten United in the Premier League either home or away for five years.
It was a handball by Gary Neville that conceded the free-kick on the edge of the penalty box, but goalkeeper Fabien Barthez stood no chance of saving Murphy's curling shot.
"I was now the player who had scored that goal for us - and against them," he added. "It was like people saw me in a different way, and certainly thought more highly of me, because I had given them this joy in a fixture that meant so much to them.
"You feel a warmth from the supporters and it is very hard to get if you've not grown up knowing it yourself.
"I'd been at Old Trafford as a Liverpool fan watching them play there, so I understood what beating United meant to our supporters."
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Category: General Sports
