Man Utd 1-3 Liverpool: Mark Gonzalez downs United in Legends of the North charity game

Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Legends of the North game on Saturday afternoon, a charity match which saw both teams submit a squad of ex-players.

The game was organised to raise funds for the Manchester United Foundation, who do fantastic charity work to help younger and disadvantaged people in Greater Manchester.

Both United and Liverpool submitted squads packed full of former players, including the likes of Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, Patrice Evra and Jamie Carragher, with an impressive crowd of 48,777 at Old Trafford for the game.

Antonio Valencia was involved in the two best chances of the first half, when he cleared a Liverpool effort off the line in the early stages.

Later in the opening period, Valencia linked well with Dimitar Berbatov, but the Ecuadorian hit his shot right at Jerzy Dudek in the Liverpool net.

While it was goalless in the first half, within four minutes of the second period two goals had been scored.

Luis Garcia broke the deadlock after he latched onto a through ball, rounded Raimond van der Gouw and slotted into an empty net.

But United hit back with Berbatov upended in the box by Momo Sissoko and the referee awarded a penalty, despite the protests of Carragher.

The former striker stood and nonchalantly passed the ball into the bottom corner, to the delight of the Stretford End.

But it was Liverpool who responded best and went close via a Mark Gonzalez effort, before Dirk Kuyt hit the post with a left-footed strike inside the box.

When the next goal came it was again the visitors who took the lead, with Gonzalez netted a sublime free-kick from around 25 yards.

Liverpool had the better chances late on, with Garcia missing from just a few yards out while Gonzalez failed to convert from almost on the goal-line after intercepting a tired header back to the goalkeeper from Neville.

As for United, they had decent efforts via John O’Shea’s cross which nearly looped over the head of Sander Westerveld, while Danny Webber had two late shots that went close, with Westerveld keeping out the second with a diving save.

In injury-time, Liverpool made it 3-1 when the two opposition goalscorers combined, as Garcia played in Gonzalez, who blasted the ball past Kevin Pilington.

Of course, that’s only the halfway point of the double header, with a second leg to be played at Anfield in September.

It was confirmed after the game that over £1.3million had been raised for the Manchester United Foundation.

John Shiels, CEO for the Manchester United Foundation said: “Seeing the fans turn out here today in such numbers shows just how important the Foundation is to the club and its supporters.

“Over the past few years, our work has got bigger and continues to do so given the current socio-economic situation, which is why events like today are absolutely vital.

Teams in full

Manchester United starting XI: Van der Gouw, Neville,Stam, Johnsen,Evra, Poborsky, Valencia, Butt, Blomqvist, Berbatov, Saha.

Substitutes: Pilkington, Brown, O’Shea, Silvestre, Fortune, Webber.

Liverpool starting XI: Dudek; Kvarme, Carragher, Xavier, Aurelio; Pennant, Diao, Le Tallec, Rodriguez; Downing, Voronin.

Substitutes: Westerveld, Enrique, Vignal, Wright, Sissoko, Gonzalez, Garcia, Benayoun, Kuyt, Sinama-Pongolle.

Changes were made on a rolling basis throughout the game.