Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that United had ridden their luck in registering what he termed a 'massive' win at Anfield.

John O'Shea's injury-time goal was United's only attack of note in a poor display, but the Boss was more than happy to have Lady Luck on his side.

"To be honest Liverpool played fantastic," he told Sky Sports. "We were very lucky today, we had a lot of narrow escapes.

"Really it was one of those games in which I think the pressing of Liverpool upset our rhythm a bit, and they'll be feeling very unlucky today. I think they were.

"It (the result) is massive. I said that last week, that it happens in Championships.

Last week (at Fulham) we broke away and scored in the last couple of minutes, today we broke away and scored in the last minute or so.

"You need a bit of luck to win Championships, there's no question about that, and I think we've got that in the last two weeks."

The result was slightly soured by the loss of Wayne Rooney through injury, having been caught by Jamie Carragher's studs.