A rampant Liverpool team stunned Manchester United 1 -4 at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday to rekindle the English Premier League title race.

After their midweek thrashing of Real Madrid in the Champions League, Liverpool responded to falling behind to a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty with another sensational display to seal a league double over the champions.

Fernando Torres and a Steven Gerrard spot kick edged Liverpool in front by halftime. Fabio Aurelio then curled in a 77th minute free kick to make it 3-1 after United defender Nemanja Vidic had been sent off.

Substitute Andrea Dossena lobbed a fourth in stoppage time to make it a humiliating afternoon for United who had been on an 11-match league winning streak and were unbeaten in 16.

United lead the table by four points from Liverpool with a game in hand but their poor performance will give renewed heart to Liverpool and Chelsea who face Manchester City on Sunday.

“It was a great team performance from back to front,” Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard told Sky Sports. “It was a magnificent win. It’s not very often you see Man United get beaten 4-1 at home.

“The important thing is the gap is smaller. We still need a bit of luck along the way but it may give the teams who still have to play United a bit of belief.”

Arsenal are out of contention for the title but edged back into the top four when record signing Andrei Arshavin grabbed his first two goals for the club in a 4-0 home thrashing of Blackburn Rovers to move above Aston Villa who play on Sunday.

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Rafa Benitez have admitted that Liverpool‘s title hopes will depend on the next two games’ outcome after Dirk Kuyt’s equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Failure to claim all three points against Mark Hughes’s team on Sunday has left Liverpool seven points adrift of reigning champions Manchester United, who host Benitez’s team at Old Trafford on March 14.

But despite this latest setback in Liverpool’s bid to end their nineteen-year title drought, manager Benitez insisted they still live in hope of overhauling Sir Alex Ferguson‘s European champions.

“It is clearly more difficult for us now. We have to win against Middlesbrough and Sunderland if we are to win the trophy,” Benitez said.

“This is a bad result because we could have done better with our first-half chances. I have confidence that we can still do it, though.

“We just need to win against Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

“It is not easy to say that United will slip up, but there are still 12 games left to play, so it is not finished yet. It is clear that we will have to go to Old Trafford and beat them, though.

“United can clearly win games with their quality, but if they lose, we have to win and be there to take advantage.”

Liverpool must now put domestic issues to one side as they prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 first-leg clash against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.

And Benitez admitted that there is still doubt as to whether captain Steven Gerrard will recover from a three-week hamstring lay-off in time to face the nine-time European champions.

“We will see about Gerrard on Monday. He has to train and we will then chat with him and the doctor,” Benitez said. “He is improving, but it is not easy to say.”

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Liverpool‘s chances for a first English Premier League title since 1990 were given a boost last week with the win over Chelsea.

But Reds boss Rafael Benitez faces a test of his squad’s strength in depth as he seeks to keep the momentum going at Portsmouth on Saturday, less than 72 hours after a gruelling, extra-time FA Cup defeat by Everton.

With Manchester United not in action until Sunday’s trip to in-form West Ham, Benitez’s men can return to the top of the table — temporarily at least — by taking all three points at Fratton Park.

But the required victory will have to be secured without influential skipper Steven Gerrard, who tore a hamstring muscle early in the Everton defeat and is facing a three-week lay-off at least.

Benitez may also feel that star striker Fernando Torres, who looked distinctly weary in that match, may not be up to a third start in the space of seven days, a situation which will inevitably raise further questions about the wisdom of selling Robbie Keane back to Tottenham this week.

Portsmouth, with just two wins in 15 matches since Tony Adams took over as manager, are hoping for a boost from the arrival of Greek duo Angelos Basinas – who arrived in a deadline-day switch from AEK Athens – and Theofanis Gekas, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen.

First-team coach Johnny Metgod is backing the pair to lift the gloom around the club.

“Gekas has got a very good goalscoring record, not only in Greece but in Germany, and Basinas is a very clever, intelligent midfield player,” Metgod reported.

Chelsea welcome back key defender Ricardo Carvalho from injury as they attempt to put their title bid back on track at home to Hull, and the Portugal centreback believes the Blues will also get a boost from the involvement of his international team-mate Ricardo Quaresma.

The winger has been signed on loan from Inter Milan and Carvalho is backing him to provide the imaginative spark Chelsea have lacked of late.

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Fernando Torres scored twice in the dying minutes of the game against Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday to keep Liverpool‘s Premier League hopes alive. The Reds beat Chelsea 2 – 0.

Rafa Benitez’s side looked to be heading for another frustrating draw as Chelsea held out after Frank Lampard’s second half dismissal for a lunge on Xabi Alonso.

But Torres struck in the 89th minute when he latched on to a cross by Fabio Aurelio before cementing the points deep into stoppage time after being teed-up by Yossi Benayoun.

They were the Spanish international’s first Premier League goals since October and put Liverpool two points behind leaders Manchester United, who have a game in hand.

More importantly, the result almost certainly ended Chelsea’s title challenge for another season as Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side self-destructed.

The Blues are five points behind United and have yet to beat any of their ‘big four’ rivals this season.

While Scolari opted to keep faith with the 11 who started the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in midweek, Benitez made three changes from the side which stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Wigan.

Robbie Keane’s omission only fuelled speculation that the out-of-favour Republic of Ireland striker could be on his way out of Anfield before Monday’s transfer deadline with his former club Tottenham touted as a possible destination for the frustrated 28-year-old.

With Manchester United having pulled five points clear at the summit the previous day, nothing but a win would do for either side.

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It was the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard who kept his team in the FA Cup by equalizing 6 minutes before the turn of the hour against Everton at Anfield on Sunday night. The two teams drew 1 – 1  for the second time in a week.

When the teams met on Monday, it was Everton who fought back to force a draw and dent Liverpool’s Premier League title ambitions, but Sunday’s fourth round tie saw the Reds come from behind.

Everton took the lead in the 27th minute when Liverpool failed to mark Tim Cahill in the box.

The Australia midfielder’s header from Steven Pienaar’s corner was nodded home from close range by Joleon Lescott.

But Gerrard, as he’s done so often before, dragged Liverpool back into the match with a well-struck shot six minutes before the hour although Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard ought to have saved at his near post.

Gerrard, who opened the scoring on Monday, said Liverpool had deserved to win this match.

“In the league game Everton were worthy of a point but for 90 minutes we’ve dominated the game and they’ve scored off a set-piece which is disappointing,” he said.

“I thought we were fantastic. The only thing we’ll look at is set-pieces and being a bit more clinical in front of goal.” Asked about the undesirability of a replay, Gerrard said: “Both sides could have done without it, both would have wanted to progress tonight.”

Earlier, Arsenal were also left contemplating the somewhat unwelcome prospect of a replay against Cardiff City after their Welsh opponents held them to a goalless draw at Ninian Park.

“We could do without it, but let’s not complain because we play football,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“It’s one more game to play. If that’s the price we have to pay to stay in the hat, we’re happy to do it.”

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