Fernando Torres and David Ngog scored second-half goals as Liverpool ended a run of four straight defeats.

It was a battling display from Liverpool who stormed into their opponents from the whistle, creating several goalscoring chances.

But France left-back Evra was disappointed with his own team's display, saying: "The advice was to play our football but we didn't do that and I don't know why. Liverpool were aggressive but we didn't play and that's why it's so frustrating to lose.

"The display was poor. Normally when United play we create at least five or six clear chances but we only had the one when (Antonio) Valencia hit the crossbar. It's not enough if you want to win against Liverpool."

Nemanja Vidic and Javier Mascherano were both sent-off late on in a highly competitive encounter. The duo collected second yellow cards for their respective teams and will serve one-match suspensions.

The result leaves United in second place, two points behind leaders Chelsea, while Liverpool are fifth.