Liverpool secured their first win in over seven league meetings against Manchester United with a brilliant display in their 2-1 victory on Saturday.

United had started brightly enough to take the lead in the third minute with Carlos Tevez finding the back of the net from outside the area but Liverpool dominated the proceedings from then on to first equalize through an own goal by Wes Brown in the 26th minute before Ryan Babel scored the winner 13 minutes from full time.

United manager Alex Ferguson made his intentions clear right at the start of the match when he handed a debut start to new signing Dimitar Berbatov who was to be supported up front by Tevez and Wayne Rooney.

The move seemed to have paid instant dividends as United stormed to an early lead as Tevez raced forward to meet Berbatov's cross pass before slotting the ball past Reina and into the top corner of the net.

Liverpool stepped up the pressure after conceding the goal with an increasingly nervy Edwin Van der Sar pulling off a couple of decent saves before his horror mistake that allowed Liverpool to equalize. The United keeper raced forward to clear a Xabi Alonso deflected shot but was only able to palm it on to Wes Brown and the ball rolled into the net for an own goal.

The hosts were completely dominating the proceedings and continued to press forward in search of the winner in the second half. They were rewarded in the 77th minute when Kuyt found Babel near the penalty area and the winger made no mistake to smash the ball into the back of the net.