Benítez and his paymasters have plenty to talk about after hitting the United wall

Accents have changed in the corridors of power at Anfield but its anguish sounds the same. On Saturday Alex Hicks, son of the Texan millionaire and Liverpool co-chairman, Tom, proposed to his girlfriend Portia Tuma (yes, really) when he reached the centre circle during a private tour of the stadium. Twenty-four hours later Liverpool's players were also on their knees posing serious questions, none of them related to love.

From Rafael Benítez came the familiar complaint yesterday about the small details that undermine Liverpool's title credentials whenever examined alongside Manchester United. Familiarity flowed from Sir Alex Ferguson's champions too but that came in an exuberant response to their second successive 1-0 victory here and a performance so far removed from last season's heist it bodes ominously for those with designs on their crown.

The overwhelming evidence from the latest duel between the great north-west rivals is that both have made genuine strides since they last met. Liverpool's despair and deflation on the final whistle bore that out after Carlos Tevez, and not Fernando Torres, had proved the more decisive of the exotic strikers signed amid great fanfare in the summer.

This, Benítez had hoped, was the afternoon when the Spain international would reproduce the exhilarating form that has kept Liverpool's title aspirations alive thus far. Instead his team were unable to engineer the openings that Torres has thrived on this term and, as in Benítez's six previous league meetings against United, they could not pierce a defence marshalled imperiously by Rio Ferdinand and bullishly protected by Owen Hargreaves. The full extent of the strides Liverpool have to take before claiming the 19th title they so covet was again made apparent before their own suffering support.

This was not the backdrop Benítez required to his long-awaited meeting with Liverpool's owners, Hicks and George Gillett. Whereas constant support has echoed around Anfield for the Spaniard since his rift with the Americans became evident, here there were only cries of frustration as United forced their hosts into countless errors and absorbed second-half pressure with ease. Having met their manager's financial demands in the summer only to witness a second Anfield reverse that offered less encouragement than their first exposure to United, Gillett and Hicks would have had their own questions to present to Benítez when they met for more than three hours after the game.

Gillett has been the less vocal of the Liverpool co-chairmen during the manager's attack on their transfer restrictions but was the more expressive here. On an impromptu walk around the Anfield perimeter before kick-off he greeted supporters who wanted answers more than his handshake and, unfortunately for Liverpool, their team's performance also lacked a convincing delivery.

United were tentative starters as the exemplary running of Torres and Dirk Kuyt denied their defenders time and space to construct from the back. This was an occasion, however, that demanded ingenuity as well as enthusiasm in attack and Liverpool's reliance on the quick, long ball forward would not have been so self-defeating had it not been their only route to Edwin van der Sar's goal.

That said, the Dutchman provided the home side with more optimism in front of goal than the forward line and formation that destroyed Marseille on Tuesday. Twice Van der Sar careered into his own defenders in the space of four first-half minutes. His first collision dropped a Steven Gerrard corner at the feet of Harry Kewell, whose shot was cleared off the line by Anderson and looped kindly for Torres. Anfield held its breath at a first league goal against United in four seasons but the Spaniard headed wastefully wide. The United goalkeeper then struck Nemanja Vidic as they chased a Gerrard free-kick and was indebted to Patrice Evra for beating Kuyt to the goal-bound deflection.

Save for a late shot wide from the substitute Ryan Babel, those openings were as close as Liverpool came. They needed greater invention, only United showed it and the result turned on the one well-executed move of a compelling rather than entertaining match. The moment arrived in the 43rd minute when Ryan Giggs played a low corner out to the lurking Wayne Rooney and his driven shot was flicked into the roof of the net by Tevez. It was a soft goal to concede, especially as Rooney had served notice of the plan at an earlier set piece, but one fitting for a game decided on the slimmest of margins.

The personal duel between Gerrard and Anderson gripped more than the flair of the anonymous Cristiano Ronaldo or Kewell, while the pace of the contest exposed the slightest limitations of a player in possession. Credit must go to the referee, Mark Halsey. A lesser official would have spoiled the spectacle of thunderous challenges and occasional head-to-heads but Halsey turned a welcome blind eye whenever necessary.

With Ferdinand meeting almost every Liverpool delivery from the left United more than handled the limited options thrown their way, with Peter Crouch and Babel overdue replacements for the disappointing Kewell and Kuyt. In doing so United became the first opposing team since Everton in 1910 to keep four consecutive clean sheets on this ground.

United would have toasted victory 12 minutes from time had Rooney converted a straightforward finish from Ronaldo's cross but, like the Liverpool supporter who threw a golf ball at the United striker moments earlier, he missed. Halsey is expected to mention the incident in his report, meaning the misery of this defeat for Liverpool is not over yet.

By Andy Hunter of the Guardian.