Man United 0-3 Liverpool: Two Gerrard penalties and Suarez down Moyes' woeful Reds at Old Trafford.

As the Liverpool players cavorted in one corner, from the Stretford End came a roar of defiance.

They were singing about the number of times Manchester United had been champions. Twenty.

The last came less than a year ago but it already sounds like ancient history. The forlorn rebelliousness that used to be the preserve of Liverpool fans.

Now they look forward on Merseyside. ‘Make us dream,’ read one banner. All the talk was of winning the league; and not in some distant era when it was called Division One, either. Liverpool have a chance in the here and now.

They are four points behind leaders Chelsea, with a game in hand, to be played at home against Sunderland on March 26. Manchester City and Chelsea also have to visit Anfield in April. And this is a team in form.

Unbelievable: Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring the third in the 3-0 win at Old Trafford

Mind the gap: Liverpool are now 14 points clear of United and just four points off leaders Chelsea

Slotted home: Suarez scores to round off the 3-0 victory and put Liverpool to within four points of Chelsea

Contrast: Suarez gives his side the thumbs up as Wayne Rooney complains to his team-mates

Togetherness: Liverpool were outstanding at Old Trafford, despite United's indiscipline

All together: Liverpool boosted their title hopes with the win at Old Trafford

Up and down: United are now 14 points behind Liverpool, who are now major contenders for the title

Penalty king: Gerrard celebrates scoring his second from the spot just after half-time at Old Trafford

One up: Liverpool's Steven Gerrard scores the opening goal of the game from the penalty spot

Moyes: Manchester United must become harder to defeat

Rodgers: I have empathy with Moyes

Match facts

Man Utd: De Gea 6, Rafael 5,Jones 5, Vidic 5, Evra 5.5, Fellaini  5 (Cleverley 76, 6), Carrick 5, Mata 4.5 (Ferdinand 87), Rooney 4.5, Januzaj 5 (Welbeck 76, 6), Van Persie 4.5.
Subs: Lindegaard, Young, Valencia, Kagawa.
Booked: Rafael, Vidic.
Sent off: Vidic
Liverpool: Mignolet 7, Johnson 7, Skrtel 8, Agger 7.5, Flanagan 7.5, Henderson 7.5, Gerrard 8.5 (Lucas 87), Allen 8, Sterling 6 (Coutinho 72, 6), Sturridge 8, (Aspas 90+1), Suarez 8.
Subs: Brad Jones, Moses, Sakho, Cissokho.
Booked: Flanagan, Gerrard, Skrtel, Sturridge
Goals: Gerrard pen 34, pen 46, Suarez 84
Man of the match: Steven Gerrard
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
*Player ratings by Ian Ladyman at Old Trafford

• Click HERE for full results, fixtures and tables in the Premier League - plus your stats zone from the match

Justice was done at Old Trafford. The scoreline did not flatter Liverpool in the least, adding to the feeling of sea change.

Liverpool have been coming to Manchester for 118 years and have won away to United on just 16 occasions.

Even when they were the best team in the land this was not a happy hunting ground. 'I’ve come here and been played off the park,' said man of the match Steven Gerrard. 'To come here and dominate from start to finish was a good feeling.'

Gerrard scored two penalties and missed a third, a fair return considering the first two were correctly awarded and the third wasn’t.

Liverpool could have had another two penalties from referee Mark Clattenburg, however, and Manchester United should have been reduced to ten men after 34 minutes, so the champions got off lightly.

Near the end, with captain Nemanja Vidic dismissed – wrongly, it really wasn’t Clattenburg’s best day – David Moyes sent on Rio Ferdinand for Juan Mata.

Already trailing 3-0 with just three minutes of normal time remaining it seemed a bizarre move, but Moyes was merely trying to prevent complete humiliation – two late goals to establish the type of margin that can get a manager the sack. Even one with a six-year contract.

It is easy, of course, to observe everything that happens at Old Trafford through the lens of Manchester United’s failings, as if the opposition are incidental.