Manchester United 3 Liverpool 0: Gary Neville lays the boot into struggling Liverpool with 'knockout' jibe

The former Manchester United defender summed up Liverpool's display succinctly

Raheem Sterling missed three gilt-edged chances

He played in enough versions of the biggest game in English football in his 19-year career, so when it comes to Manchester United against Liverpool Gary Neville should know what he's talking about.

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Neville turned to a pugilistic metaphor to describe this afternoon's 3-0 victory by his former team at Old Trafford, which avenged a home loss to Liverpool last March by the same scoreline.

"Liverpool had the jabs, but Manchester United had the knockout punches," said Neville on Sky Sports, in a neat summation of the game.

The away side had double the number of chances but failed to put any of them away.

Raheem Sterling was particularly culpable, getting in close on a number of occasions but producing all the punching power of Devon Alexander.

Sterling was foiled three times, most notably in the second half when he rounded De Gea only to inexplicably take another touch with the goal gaping.

If Liverpool had had the ramrod jab of Wladimir Klitschko, they might have been okay. But this was Paulie Malignaggi against an Iron Mike Tyson admittedly past his prime.